Burning Skies
by blaze92x45
Summary: An Islamic super state called the Caliphate declares war on the world and it is up to a group of American and European pilots to stop them. However as the war drags on, and the death toll rises to an unthinkable level, the pilots of the newly formed Alliance begin to question wether the war is being waged for legitimate reasons (Realistic)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: So I know this might outwardly have some similarties to High Calling by Red Crown but I assure you this is an orginal story of my own. Orignally I posted this on ficitionpress but I thought that the site was less focused for finding the targeted audience that I wanted so I decided to post the story here as well in hopes that I would have a larger target audience. Anyway so I know this isn't exactly in the Ace Combat universe but it borrows alot of themes from the games so it kinda is an Ace Combat like story. finally please suspend some disbelif on some of the story elements remember this is a work of fiction not my zany way of prophcey anyway enjoy the story and please review at the end thank you :)**

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The Road to Ruin

_They said things were changing for the better, how they were wrong. They said that The Arab Spring was going to change things in the Middle East, and in a way they were right but not in the way they intended. Things took a turn for the worse on December 21st 2012; America finally defaulted on its debt and went into a state of economic depression. China, whose economy depended on the United States, collapsed with it, sucking Russia and Europe down with it. Amongst the shockwaves and turmoil caused by the new depression, a fanatic was rising in the Middle East. In the Gaza strip a powerful Cleric came to prominence, he went by the name Bijan Taghvaei, he preached a message of hatred and anger against the West and most importantly Israel. This was not an unusual message, as plenty of other Clerics had said the same thing; however he said something that no one else did. He said that it did not matter whether you were Arab or Persian, Sunni or Shiite, you were a Muslim and you had one true enemy the West and all who supported it. Meanwhile in Afghanistan the United States Military was falling apart, underfunded and now undermanned due to troop withdraws, they suffered defeat after defeat by the newly resurgent Al-Qaeda/Taliban alliance, finally culminating in a massive rout in the Battle of Khandahar where the United States Military was humiliatingly defeated in an large scale Tet-offensive like battle. The United States and its allies withdrew completely from Afghanistan within the week as the Taliban reasserted its authority in the country. _

_On a trip to Lebanon the Islamic world was stunned and infuriated when their beloved Cleric was assassinated. No one knew who but many blamed Israel. Covertly, over night, on June 9th 2013 several more moderate and traditionally peaceful Middle Eastern Governments were overthrown by radical Islamists. In nations such as Egypt, Syria, and Iran who had already been radicalized by various factions in their respective countries, began to coordinate a massive attack on Israel, but they could not do it alone. However on July 1st 2013 the nations of Iran, Jordan, Syria, Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, and finally Afghanistan gathered in Tehran and officially announced their intentions to form the New Islamic Caliphate. Within the week several Pakistani nuclear devices were moved to the Egyptian-Israeli border and in Pakistan several were pointed at India. Over a million troops gathered from the nations of the Caliphate and massed along the borders with Israel, and even more on the Pakistani-Indian border in preparations to "Liberate" Palestine. _

_On the eve of July 11th 2013 a single ballistic missile was fired over Israel. The Israeli Defense Force acted swiftly. Every Anti-Missile battery in the country turned on aiming skyward. Dozens of Jericho two missiles tipped with nuclear warheads launched from their silos and streaked towards their targets. However the Caliphate expected this and the single missile fired at Israel detonated in the atmosphere over the tiny nation, causing a catastrophic EMP, that not only disabled the incoming Israeli missiles, but nearly every IDF, vehicle, aircraft and even their heavier weapons such as shoulder fired Anti-Aircraft missiles. India got the same treatment ten minutes later. An hour after the detonation of the EMPs; elite members of the Caliphate's Revolutionary Guards launched an airborne assault on both nations' military sites in order to capture large stocks of highly modern Israeli and Indian equipment. Thousands of tanks stormed across the Sinai Peninsula into Israel, they were backed by the Caliphate's Air Force and together they laid waste to the lightly armed Israeli defenders who were scattered and isolated. Despite this the Israelis put up a stiff fight, as they knew that they fought for their mere survival. In India however they were less stubborn and were easily swept aside. In the course of a month both nations were completely pacified and worse yet the equipment and weapons of their powerful militaries were now in the Caliphates hands. Things only got worse from there, Russia and China Desperate to salvage their failing economies sold off virtually their entire stockpile of military weapons and vehicles. In North Korea, the Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, seeking a way to get more food and economic aide into his country sold the Caliphate the majority of his military's weapons, with the exception of nuclear weapons in order to not jeopardize the economic aide to his country. _

_It has been nearly seven years since the rise of the Caliphate, the number of terror attacks around the world has dramatically increased. However the United States finally managed to get unprecedented proof that the Caliphate has been waging a covert war against the West when it discovers a massive well trained terrorist cell in the U.S. funded and equipped by the Caliphate. The Western World begins the largest military build-up since the Cold War as it plans to retake the Middle East. _

**February 15th 2020 the Pentagon 14:20**

The building was alive with activity. This was nothing new at the Department of Defense, as there was always something going on in the world that needed their attention. However this was a special day in particular as many of the leading military commanders in the Western World were meeting to discuss plans to invade the Middle East. United States Air Force General William Mitchell sat in the conference room smoking on his corn cob pipe, looking over reports of troop dispositions and fleet movements of the Caliphate; so far it appeared that everything was normal. Despite U.S. Carrier Battle Groups occasionally being shadowed by enemy submarines nothing indicated that the Caliphate was on to the invasion plans. William then looked over Total U.S. military strength, and was astonished at the assessment. The U.S. had enrolled over ten million service men and women since the build-up had begun. The U.S, Army had reactivated and upgraded all of its old Abrams tanks and built more helicopters of all classes to be thrown into the fight against the Caliphate. The Marines had not only upgraded all of the AH-1Ws to Viper standards they had actually built even more of them than what was originally contracted for, and instead of retiring the legacy F/A-18s they maintained them to use alongside their F-35s. The Air Force had built forty B-3s formally known as the 2018 bomber, and like the marines had kept the F-16s and F-15s in service to serve alongside their so called replacements the F-22 and the F-35. Additionally they reactivated the F-117 stealth fighters. Finally the Navy had its three Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carriers completed, and the Zumwalt class destroyers had been built at a hurried pace. The four Iowa-class battleships were reactivated along with the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier. Additionally they had like the Marines decided to maintain the legacy F/A-18s instead of retiring them. All told the U.S. Military was stronger now than it has been since the Regan era. There was a knock on the conference room door.

"Enter." William said to whoever was on the other side as he stashed away the classified documents in his brief case. A young 2nd Lieutenant of the USAF stepped through the door.

"You wanted to see me sir?" The Lieutenant asked the General as he saluted, to which William returned the salute.

"Yes I did Lieutenant, at ease. You know just as well as anyone else in the world that we are going to war and soon, and even though you are my nephew I'm not going to give you any special treatment, you are a Raptor pilot God damn it, and we will need you at the front lines, you understand me Brian?" William put on his best tough old General face for his nephew Brian O' Harris who just smirked back at him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way sir, but next time you mind just calling me on the phone or something Uncle Willie?" The young officer chuckled. To which the General gave a dismissive wave.

"Well in my defense you were in town so I figured I would just have you stop by in person instead."

"Alright then, well if that is all I imagine we are both rather busy so I am just going to head out now see you later sir." Brian said as he turned around and started to head out the door

"Good bye, until next time." William checked his watch; it was 14:27 three minutes before the generals of NATO and a handful of other nations were to arrive. William took a last minute sip of water and went over some of his talking points. A General from the German Bundeswehr was the first to arrive at the meeting. They saluted each other and shook hands. Next an RAF Major General and A French Army General walked in at the same time. A few minutes later the Commandant of The United States Marine Corp and the Secretary of the Navy arrived. The Secretary of Defense Arnold Rooks along with a Brigadier General of the U.S. Army and a Polish Army General arrived; they were followed by several Italian, Spanish, Belgium, and Greek officers. After a few more minutes officers from Canada, Austria, Australia, Finland, Sweden, South Africa, the Netherlands, Brazil and South Korea arrived. Finally the Japanese Commander of the JSDF and their nation's Foreign Minister arrived. The Secretary of Defense stood up and got in front of the room and began to speak.

"Alright it looks like everyone is here then so I guess we can begin. In the wake of the latest series of terrorist attacks across the globe and the overtly aggressive and brutal actions carried out by the Islamic Caliphate we have gathered here today to discuss plans to invade and occupy the entire Middle East. Now I know how this might seem impossible but given the circumstances I believe we have no other choice. The Caliphate's leaders are old school Islamists they don't care about money or power, all they care about is waging a holy war on anyone who doesn't believe in their brand of Islam. Now before I continue I want everyone here to say whether or not their nations pledges its support to this cause if you want you can bow out so to say, your countries will not be looked down upon and we won't stop trading with you, but make no mistake if we lose here we may lose everything and we need everyone we can to win in this fight." One by one the representatives from the various nations pledged their support, until South Korea's representative stood up.

"My nation respectfully declines to join this alliance, on the grounds that despite its appearance of demilitarization our northern neighbor still has a rather sizable army and is a bigger threat to us than the Caliphate is at the moment." Secretary Rooks nodded and asked for him to leave the room. The Japanese Foreign Minister spoke next.

"My nation has been strictly pacifistic since the end of the Pacific War, and our constitution rejects all non defensive wars. Although I do agree that the Caliphate is an enormous threat to our very survival, legally we are unable to go to war against them unless we are directly attacked." William stood up from his seat and looked across to the Foreign Minister.

"Hasn't your Government passed a legislation that now allows the JSDF to fight on foreign soil as long as it has been attacked first by another nation?" Inquired the Air Force General

"Yes we have but the legislation does not cover terrorist attacks only invading armies."

"Like it or not Foreign minister the terrorist attacks on your country despite being much more minor than what we have faced is an act of war by the Caliphate and sooner or later if we are defeated it will only be a matter of time before you see Islamic troops storming your beaches." The Japanese SDF General stood up

"I concur but the law is the law, unless a much larger terrorist or military attack occurs we can not intervene, however the aircraft carrier that you sold to us will come in handy as a power projection tool, against the Caliphate if we are to be involved in this war. And of course your nation is allowed to use our military bases to stage operations into the region." William looked to the Secretary of Defense who nodded, and then spoke.

"We appreciate your support but the plans we are going over now are highly classified and for the eyes of the Alliance members only. Should the need arise our embassy in Tokyo will forward you the plans, but for now I must ask you to leave." The Japanese representatives bowed and left the room. The secretary opened his brief case and handed out thick files to the remaining members of the Alliance. "Alright so if you will open up the folder you will see a map with the basic outline for our initial assault. The Greek, German, Italian, and Spanish armies are to attack the former nation of Turkey and use air and sea borne forces to cross the Bosporus Straight and form a beachhead where they will then push down further into the Middle East. Their final objective will to be cross into Syria and secure the capitol of Damascus. These armies are to be referred to as Army Group Alpha. The U.S. Marines along with the Polish and British Armies are to land in the Former areas of Yemen and Oman. They will then march through Saudi Arabia where they will split into two groups; the Polish Army and half of the Marines force will turn to the west and march on Cairo. The British Army and the rest of the Marines will turn to the east to liberate Israel. They will be referred to as Army Group Bravo. The United States Army along with Australian and Belgium Armies will land in Kuwait and Al-Basrah; they will send a detachment of forces to encircle the UAE and Yemen to prevent their flank from being attacked by enemy forces stationed in Saudi Arabia. Once there they will link up with Army Group Bravo and move on Israel. The rest of the group will start to push through Iraq and into Syria and Jordan, finally they will move into Israel and link up with Army Group Bravo. This group will be referred to Army Group Charlie. Finally the Finnish, French, Swedish, Brazilian, Austrian and Elements of the U.S. Army will land in Khuzestan and move into Iran and Afghanistan where after seizing Tehran they will fortify their positions and wait for the other army groups to reinforce them where they will then march into Afghanistan and Pakistan, and finally liberating India. This group will be referred to as Army Group Delta. The South African and Dutch Armies will be held in reserve to be deployed where they are needed. Now we have done energy assessments and we have some bad news considering the size and scale of these operations we will only have enough fuel and munitions to conduct full scale operations for a year, or maybe a year and a half tops so we need to secure those oil refineries. This being said for the purposes of the cameras we are to say that our top priorities are to liberate the occupied countries. Does anyone have any questions before we begin a more intricate look at the plan?" the Secretary of Defense finally finished speaking. The RAF General raised his hand. "Yes Lord Cullen?"

"How much of their military equipment do you think is operational, I imagine that especially the equipment bought from North Korea is in poor shape as well as the U.S. supplied equipment which now should lack spare parts."

"Well it appears that with the help from Russia and China as well as their indigenous capabilities they have managed to get the vast majority of their equipment operational, they now have the largest air force in the world, as well as the largest army in the world however we still have a more powerful navy then they do." The Secretary responded "Any other questions"

"Yes what kind of causalities can we expect?" Asked the Brazilian General

"I won't lie to you we are expecting to see causalities as high as fifteen to twenty percent." That response caused a number of gasps and murmurs. "Does anyone want to back out now?" No one raised their hands "alright let's begin a more in-depth look at the campaign."

**February 20th 2020 Tehran 11:58**

Military pride day was in full swing in one of the Caliphates largest cities, and Supreme Commander of the Air Force Shiraz Hosseini was not about to miss it. Any moment the soldiers of the Caliphate would be marching down Revolutionary Square, to celebrate the army dedicated to Allah. Shiraz himself had planed the flyover for today in order to demonstrate the Caliphates powerful air force that could easily crush the puny Infidel's force. It was now noon and the first Soldiers turned the corner, they were the members of the Revolutionary Guard, many had been members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard but now mixed in their ranks were Guardsmen from all the nations of the Caliphate. Ironically however when the Caliphate was formed they were reorganized to act more along the lines of the Iraqi Republican Guard, equipped with the best weapons and vehicles the Caliphate offered, they made up roughly fifteen percent of the Caliphates twenty five million man army. Shortly after them came the Regular armed forces they were a mixed bag when it came to quality over quantity some were well trained from formerly western backed countries others were barley better then militia. Finally the next group was the irregulars, the Fedayeen; they wore civilian clothes and were lightly equipped by modern standards. However despite this they made up thirty five percent of the ground forces. In addition to the twenty five million man standing army the Caliphate had nearly ten to twelve million reservists waiting to be called up in a time of war. Behind them came a company of Russian built T-90s, as they rumbled by the first group of planes flew overhead.

**February 20th 2020 the skies over Tehran 12:07 **

Major Farid Arbab sat in the cockpit of F-14 Tomcat, which despite being built nearly fifty years ago was still one of the deadliest things in the sky. He was only three hundred and fifty meters from the ground so he could easily make out the individual people on the ground below him. His RIO Afshin Tehrani spoke into the radio.

"Hey watch it you are wobbling a bit make sure to fly totally level, the clerics will have your head otherwise." The RIO bleated to him.

"I know, I know god you are like my mother." They continued to fly in formation with the other aircraft, at least an entire squadron of planes of his type alone were with him. However none of the planes were armed as the Phoenix Missiles the F-14 carried were still very valuable. They passed over the entire parade route and began to turn for home. "Shit that was something wasn't it Afshin?" the burly Persian pilot said to his RIO.

"What the parade? Yeah it was something to think all of these people came to see us marching and flying in unison." The RIO responded back to his pilot who was busy watching his proximity to the other aircraft.

"Yeah seeing all of the hardware we have in our arsenal on display makes me believe that there is no way the Americans will be able to defeat us. Well not without nuclear weapons anyway."

"Yeah well I don't think we have to worry about that." The RIO informed his pilot.

"Huh why is that?" Farid asked his partner who chuckled a bit.

"Oh that is an easy one. They won't nuke us because we have the oil and they won't risk destroying their precious fossil fuels." Farid smiled and began to laugh. His RIO was right the U.S. wouldn't risk destroying the oil without it their whole world would end.

**February 20th 2020 Tehran 12:11**

The Supreme Commander watched the pride of the Old Iranian Air Force pass overhead, how he loved that plane it was the very symbol of Iran's military strength in the air. The next planes to fly overhead were a whole two squadrons of twenty four Mirage F1s. Since Shiraz was more interested in the airplanes he ignored the variety of tanks parading in the streets

**February 20th 2020 the skies over Tehran 12:13**

Captain Omar Goben flew his Mirage straight and level just like he was told to. Omar always flew that way; it was his greatest strength and weakness, but he had risen through the ranks for it. He knew war was coming, he welcomed it. Part of him desperately wanted to break formation and attack the U.S. Navy ships that he knew were violating the Caliphates territorial waters. But he was not ordered to, nor did he have any weapons in which to do so, consequentially he flew in formation. As he flew over the ground troops he boiled with anger as he thought of America the Great Satan. They were to him foul creatures only deserving a quick death by his hands. He wished his plane was armed with nuclear weapons so he could fly over an American city and vaporize it just as the Americans had flattened his home town with their planes more than sixteen years ago.

**February 20th 2020 Tehran 12:18**

Shiraz watched as the Mirages flew overhead, he remembered how much trouble Iran had when the Iraqis flew them during the Iran-Iraq war. He grew to hate them when he was shot down twice by them over Khark. Now they were on his side so he learned to love them. Next up was a flight of F-16s that Venezuela had covertly sold to Iran ten years ago. They were good planes and they could fill a variety of mission requirements. After that some Su-25s flew by, Shiraz remembered that the IRGC used to fly some of them but those pilots had now transferred into the Air Force as the new structural changes said the Guards shouldn't have their own planes. Some of the Caliphates bombers then flew overhead Tu-22M3s bought from Russia. The Caliphate had bought all of Russia and China's strategic bombers and had the largest stockpile of bomber aircraft in the world. The only other nation that had bombers was the United States and its fleet was small and aging. After the Bombers flew overhead some Su-30MKIs flew overhead. They had been captured from India and were formidable in the air.

**February 20th 2020 the skies over Tehran 12:31**

Major Yuri and his RIO Captain Nikolai flew over the parade. They looked down in pride at the number of troops the Caliphate could muster in this region alone. They were proud to serve their country and their faith to fight the infidels and they were counting the seconds until operation Damnation began.

"Hey Nikolai how many American planes do you think we are going to shoot down when the war starts?" Yuri asked his RIO who quickly responded

"Hundreds more than any other pilots in history even their F-22s will fall like rain before our onslaught!" Nikolai enthusiastically replied.

"Good that is what I like to hear!" Yuri shouted his response back.

**February 20th 2020 the skies over Tehran 12:38**

They called him the Sky Falcon. Flying in his Mig-35 he certainly did feel like a falcon. Lieutenant Mohommed Rayyan looked back to his RIO Lieutenant Hassan Batool and nodded to which his RIO gave him the thumbs up. They were ready, ready for war.

**February 20th 2020 the skies over Tehran 12:45**

Colonel Ghulam Faruque flew his J-20 stealth Fighter low and slow over the parade. He wondered why he had to miss his afternoon prayer for this spectacle. He sighed and continued flying.

**February 20th 2020 the Skies over Tehran 12:50 **

Lieutenant Allama Mashriqi sat in the cockpit of his Chinese built J-10 and wished he could give his audience a real spectacle. One involving lots of high-g turns and low passes; but he could not last time he tried such a stunt at a closed air force event he was nearly kicked out of the Air Force, and if he wasn't such a good pilot he would have. So he just followed the flight plan and returned to his base.

**February 20th 2020 Tehran 13:00**

Shiraz watched the J-10s pass and he waited for the next plane to appear. For they were his pride and joy the people who could win him the war they were the Air Fedayeen, flying trainers and obsolescent airplanes their main job was to attack the enemy in mass and basically waste the enemy's ammo until the real Air Force would show up. The first planes approached they were J-6s and J-5s both planes were designed in the mid 1950s but with their powerful cannons they were formidable in the ground attack role.

**February 20th 2020 the skies over Tehran 13:05**

Flight Officer Arash Akhtar flew in his J-6, he was nervous about this he hadn't had much flight experience and he knew he wouldn't be a match for any of the American planes he would be sent against. However he had a duty to his faith and his country to protect it no matter what even if he had to die in order to do so.

**February 20th 2020 Tehran 13:10**

The air show part of the parade was over as the J-6s flew off to their bases. Shiraz smiled to himself. He had a plan to face the Americans. He was going to neutralize their aircraft carries soon. He had ordered all civilian planes to be secretly militarized. Massive passenger jets had their luggage compartments loaded with explosives. The civilians would get onboard and the flight would takeoff as normal however the pilots would really be members of the Martyr Squad, who would take the planes over the Allied carriers and crash the explosive laden jets into them hopefully sinking them. Others would crash into civilian targets all over the Western world. Then bombers would attack forward positions near the Caliphates borders in order to neutralize their advanced units. This should dissuade the weak willed Alliance from attacking them. Yes it was all going to be perfect.

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**Closing Note: so i am planning on writing one chapter a month i go to school full time though so it will be a little tricky to do that but i already have ch 2 finished and Ch3 and Ch4 written but awaiting editing anyway i hope you enjoyed this chapter. P.S. so chapter 1 introduces the Caliphate characters but Chapter 2 introduces the Allied Characters **


	2. Opening Moves

**Hey everyone so I just figured out how to add a foreward. Anyway so this chapter basically adds all of the remaining POV characters. Ch 3 when posted will have more action and plot/character devlopment **

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Opening Moves

_The morning of March 17th was just like any day over the Persian Gulf. Actually it was a rather idyllic day, the weather was unusually pleasant and the air off the water picked up a cool breeze. Yet no one in the Alliance and few in the Caliphate new that the hell fires of war were upon them. Over the nearly two years of war that was about to begin the death toll would rise to be nearly fifteen times greater than all of the deaths that occurred in the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war. For both sides the war would have their share of triumphs and defeat. The West would see total war for the first time since the Second World War. The stage was set for a fight to the death between the great powers of the world. _

**March 16th 2020 the Pentagon 19:37**

General William Mitchell sat at his desk looking over documents. It appeared that all of the Alliance's military forces were in their positions ready to strike against the Caliphate. However, under direct orders from the President of the United States they were not to attack until at least another month. The President wanted to give the Caliphate one more chance to withdraw from Israel and India, and to stop waging genocide against those nations' people. Additionally the President asked for the Caliphate to stop trying to exterminate the Kurdish people. However that had the worst chances of being done. Even before the Caliphate was created nearly everyone in the Middle East hated the Kurds, why, was anyone's guess. The Kurds helped the U.S. during the Iraq war and even now the U.S. was helping them by smuggling in weapons and U.S. based mercenaries to help them just to survive the daily onslaughts against them. It was truly a sad situation that William desperately wanted to end. But William was a realist, he knew that the Caliphate wouldn't stop killing them under any circumstance. That is why the U.S. had secretly smuggled the Kurdish Resistance leader out of the Middle East, where he promised his support in the event of a U.S. invasion, in return for the Kurdish people finally having their own country. One of the General's aides a Captain by the name of Bruce McCain walked in the room and put a file on his desk.

"Sir the Secretary wants you to take a look at this and for you to send him a report as to what you think is happening." Captain McCain informed the General, who just wordlessly nodded. The aide stepped out of the room. William opened the folder and saw a satellite image at Tehran International Airport, zoomed in and outlined in a red box was a picture of a large passenger jet with what appeared to be dozens of maintenance workers modifying it. He looked harder and noticed on one of the repair vehicles it appeared that a large refueling probe was being mounted on the plane. William concluded that the plane was being modified in order to be a tanker. William looked at some more pictures and noticed several civilian aircraft were being modified in order to be tankers or AEW planes. However he noticed another thing in one of the photos something that baffled him. At several of the airports that were photographed dozens of military trucks were driving into hangers were some civilian planes were being towed into. For the life of him William could not figure out what this meant.

**March 17th 2020 Tehran 04:00 **

Shiraz stood on the balcony to his office in the Caliphate's Air Force headquarters. He looked out over the city and smiled. Today was the day he would deliver the death blow to the frail infidel military. He chuckled to himself and walked back into his office. He picked up his phone and dialed the number to the martyr squad's headquarters. He waited for someone to pick up the phone, when someone did he uttered a single word.

"Damnation." The phone went dead on the other end and he smiled. In a few hours the sea would be alight with burning Allied ships, and they would never dare challenge the might of the Caliphate.

**March 17th 2020 the Persian Gulf 07:32**

Waiting on the flight deck of the USS Kitty Hawk was, a tense process. You never knew when your flight was going to be cancelled or if you were actually going to get some flight time. However, this day Captain Sabiha Gokcen (Sabrina to her friends) of the United States Marine Corps knew she was going to fly. Her F-35C was fully loaded with four air-to-air missiles and the twenty-five millimeter cannon mounted on the gun pod slung beneath her plane was fully loaded. Her wingman Lieutenant James Thatch was being locked into the steam powered catapult that would shoot his plane up to takeoff speed in a mere two seconds. He looked across to her from his plane and gave her the thumbs up. Even though his face was covered by his oxygen mask he knew he was smiling, he always smiled at her. she smiled and waved back, She put on her oxygen mask and pulled down the visor on her helmet, the screen turned on and the data feed began streaming directly in front of her as the plane's onboard computer ran a self diagnostic check. After a few seconds she got an all clear from her computer.

"Tower this is Raven 1-2 my systems are running at peak performance do I have permission to take off?" Sabrina asked the control tower

"Affirmative Raven 1-2 you are clear to take off, happy hunting." The tower responded. One of the catapult operators stood between her plane and Thatch's, he stuck out his right hand to indicate he wanted Sabrina to take off first; he ducked and gave the take off gesture. Sabrina's plane rocketed off the flight deck and she was thrust into the sky. She pushed the throttle forward to increase speed and gained altitude, until she reached approximately fifteen thousand feet. A few minutes later Thatch's plane flew up beside her.

"Uh mic check, hey Sabrina can you hear me?" asked Thatch, her friends called her Sabrina it was easier than her Bosniak name for most Americans.

"Yeah I read you loud and clear James, is your plane functioning properly?" She responded

"Yes it seems fine I just wanted to make sure we were on the same frequency. Anyways shall we contact are friendly neighborhood AWACS to see where our patrol rout is for today?"

"Gottcha, Thunderhead this is Raven 1-2 can you read me over?"

"This is Thunderhead; we read you loud and clear. Raven flight, you are to proceed to checkpoint Alpha and head along the designated rout then refuel at the tanker along checkpoint Foxtrot and RTB after Checkpoint Gamma." The Navy's E-2C Hawkeye told the fighter pilots. They turned their heading north and began their patrol.

**March 17th 2020 the Persian Gulf 08:14 **

"Hey Sabrina, I have been meaning to ask you something." James Thatch spoke over the radio. Even though he didn't need to, he flew closer to Sabrina, his F-35's engine loudly roared as he increased speed so he was just a little to rear and right of her plane. He had turned off the tint on his helmet's visor so she could see his pale blue eyes and tanning white skin.

"Uh, is it personal? We are over an open mic you know." Sabrina responded

"Well a little I guess, I just wanted to know since you are a Bosniak, that means you're a Muslim right?"

"Yeah I am, what of it?" She tried not to snap at him. Sabrina tended to be defensive about her religion but she knew that James was a good friend and would not mock or discriminate against her on the grounds of her faith.

"Well I wanted to know does it bother you that if we go to war against the Caliphate? We will be fighting Muslims; I mean they are your people right since you share the same faith and all." He asked her, with a noticeable sense of nervousness in his voice; she knew he didn't want to inadvertently offend her, in fact he seemed like he went out of his way to not get her angry at all for whatever reason.

"To be honest I don't consider those psychos to be my people. Islam is a religion of peace and yet they have perverted it into being a battle cry. They don't respect any of our prophet's teachings and they want everyone to live like they're in the Stone Age. Keep in mind these people want to kill you, me, our friends and our families simply because we are different than them. Plus even if let's say I did defect and go to their side, all they would see would be some blonde haired, green eyed, white girl, they wouldn't consider me a proper Muslim, hell you didn't know I was a Muslim until I told you as much." As much as she hated to admit it she felt more like a Bosniak than an American but she knew for sure that she was more American than Muslim. She didn't even wear a hijab or go to mosques often. Just then the AWACS chimed over the radio.

"Raven 1-2 and 1-3 there is an unknown aircraft approaching from the north. It is flashing a civilian IFF but its course puts it as heading straight for the carrier. Intercept and escort it away from the carrier." The AWACS said with urgency in his voice

"Alright lets kick the tires and light the fires" Thatch said over the radio as he turned in the direction of the incoming aircraft and activated his afterburner, his aircraft's powerful F135 jet engine roared and a now visible exhaust was seen as the afterburner engaged. Sabrina followed suit and went after Thatch's plane. She turned on her radar and spotted the incoming aircraft, it was big, meaning it was either a passenger jet, or maybe possibly a bomber flashing a civilian IFF. After a few minutes they came within visual range of the aircraft a Boeing 747 passenger jet with Middle East Airlines painted on the side. It was about fifteen miles from the carrier. "Damn it how did it get this close to the fleet? Uh you might want to let me do the talking Sabrina." He looked at her from his plane which was flying now to the left of her. She nodded for him to begin to speak on her behalf. "Alright attention incoming passenger jet you are violating U.S. military airspace, please change course immediately." Thatch said over an open channel so the civilian plane's pilot could hear him. They began flying closer to the plane, then right alongside the plane. Sabrina looked in the plane and she saw it was or at least near a full flight as every window seat was occupied. In one of the windows she could see a mom and her child looking out to her, the child waved to which Sabrina waved back.

"Attention American Navy pilots we are MEAA flight 107 on route to Manila, our flight plan says we will not be flying anywhere near your ships. Besides this is international waters we have the right to fly where ever we wish to." The passenger jet pilot responded with an almost visible air of arrogance.

"Well flight 107 your flight plans was clearly mistaken and you need to change your course to headings 287 and…." Lieutenant Thatch was unable to finish his sentence before the Passenger jet increased its speed and began to descend towards the Carrier Battle Group that was now clearly visible.

"THIS IS THUNDERHEAD SHOOT DOWN THAT PLANE NOW!" the AWACS operator screamed

"THUNDERHEAD, THERE ARE PASSENGERS ON THAT JET!" Sabrina yelled back

"This is Command pull back now Raven flight we are activating our Aegis air defense systems." The Carrier Battle Group's Control Center responded. On Sabrina's radar a dozen missiles launched from the escort ships fired at the incoming passenger jet. Sabrina and James turned hard to avoid being caught in the explosion when suddenly their radars went down and Sabrina saw the anti aircraft missiles veer off in different directions.

"What the hell did they use an ECM on us?" Sabrina said over the radio but all she got was static in return. Some of the Arleigh Burke class destroyers turned and engaged with the CIWS Gatling cannons but it was too late. Even as twenty millimeter shells struck the plane the jumbo jet was already in position to smash into the USS Kitty Hawk. The plane impacted the carrier at maximum speed and a massive fireball erupted on deck. The force of the impact was enough to toss several of the aircraft on deck overboard. Sabrina could see damage control crews scramble to get their equipment in order to put out the fires. Then to Sabrina's horror a massive secondary explosion went off splitting the carrier in half, the massive fireball from the explosion created an orange bloom of fire. Several other explosions racked the ships as munitions for the aircraft that it carried detonated as well. Sabrina could only stare in shock as her carrier sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

**March 17th 2020 the Persian Gulf 09:13**

Captain Paul Jackson flew his F/A-18E Super Hornet right next to the Boeing 767 passenger jet that was on course to his Carrier the USS Ronald Regan. The sun beat down on his milky white skin, good thing he wore sunscreen today he thought to himself. He was nervous about what was going to happen next he saw that the plane was filled with civilians but if it came any closer he would have no choice but to shoot it down. His flight leader Major Marcus Wright was trying to convince the passenger jet's stubborn pilot to change course but so far to no avail. Suddenly the Regan's CIC Officer spoke over the radio

"Beast flight the Caliphate is using civilian airliners as suicide weapons we lost at least three ships to them in other sectors you are to shoot it down immediately. They have ECM so use your guns on them." The CIC ordered them. The flight lead and the two other wingmen in his flight pulled back while Paul pulled up on the stick to gain altitude he zoomed up another two thousand feet and rolled his aircraft over so his cockpit was facing the sea and the enemy plane; he pulled back on the stick again to begin a dive he lined up his aircraft's radar assisted gun sight on the enemy plane and squeezed the trigger. The roar of an M61 Vulcan cannon erupted and the stream of cherry red tracers smashed into the 767, stitching the aircraft from its nose towards its left wing which was sheared off by the explosive shells. The aircraft began to tumble away as Paul leveled off and turned his wing to watch the plane go down. To his horror Paul could just barely see people who had been sucked out of the burning plane fall towards their deaths.

**March 17th 2020 the Persian Gulf 08:45**

Captain Noel Castelain rocketed towards the unidentified aircraft at full speed in his Rafale M naval fighter aircraft, Noel had heard the reports of passenger jets being used as weapons and he was more than prepared to shoot one down. After all to Noel the passengers were just a bunch of filthy Muslims that the world would be better off without. His wingman Pierre Madon flew a few dozen meters off his left wing. They turned their radars on and got a positive radar signature from the aircraft it was a P-3 Orion ASW plane.

"What the hell is that doing there? Pierre do you know if the Americans are flying anti-submarine patrols out in this sector?" Noel asked his wingman

"No sir they are not it might be an enemy P-3 we should make a visual inspection to see what markings it is flying." Pierre responded with coolness in his voice that said that he was unafraid of whatever will happen next.

"Roger that. The unidentified aircraft is 11km away, follow me for intercept." They sped towards the Orion when all of the sudden the French aircraft carrier the Charles De Gaulle's CIC spoke over the radio.

"Multiple anti-ship missiles launched engage the enemy at will." The CIC said. Noel could hear in the background someone saying to prepare the anti-missile batteries and to conduct evasive maneuvers.

"Pierre I got this asshole." Noel armed a radar guided MICA missile. He waited until he got a positive tone on the aircraft and a message appeared on his HUD informing him to shoot. "Lion 1 FOX 3!" the MICA rocketed off the under wing pylon and sped towards its target. Noel observed on his radar the P-3 pulling an evasive maneuver and popping chaff to confuse the missile. But to no avail just on the horizon Noel witnessed and explosion "Splash one, target destroyed, Charles De Gaul how is that missile intercept coming?"

"The missiles were intercepted and destroyed good work Lion 1" both Noel and Pierre turned around and headed back to their carrier.

**March 17th 2020 Tokyo 12:49 **

Japanese Air Self-Defense Force Lieutenant Tanaka Katsumi stepped out of the crowded movie theater with her best friend and wingman or rather wing-woman Masani Keiko. The sky was slightly cloudy and the weather was cool enough that they had to wear warm jackets.

"So what did you think of the movie Keiko-chan?" Tanaka Katsumi asked as they walked down the street towards their favorite sushi bar.

"Eh it was alright, what did you think of it?" Keiko asked back

"Yeah it was alright at least it was kind of funny." They both laughed as they continued down the street. Once they arrived at the sushi bar they saw that it had a line out the door and they were in no mood to wait an hour or more for food. So after a little debate they decided to head to a Raman shop that was a few blocks down the street. They arrived at the Raman shop and sat down. They ordered their food and began to chat about various things, however eventually they got on the topic of work. "Hey Keiko-chan, do you think if we go to war with the Caliphate we, as in us personally are going to be deployed overseas?" Tanaka asked her friend who just sighed.

"I highly doubt that, I mean yeah we are fully trained to fly the F-15J but come on look at us. We are practically just fashion models used to recruit other men to join the JSDF. We hardly get any flight time and all of the male officers just look down their noses at us so the odds of us actually going to war are frankly slim to none. Frankly I would be surprised if we are able to even stay in the JSDF, we will probably be discharged so some men could take our place to go up to the frontlines." Keiko said the last line with disdain, the entire squadron was made up of women pilots, but they were all treated more like mascots than actual soldiers. Despite loving their country just as much as anyone else, and despite having some of the best flying records of any unit in the JSDF they were still treated as a joke.

"I don't know if we go to war with the Caliphate it is going to be a massive war. Maybe even bigger than the Pacific War when we fought America, I think we will need everyone we can get in order to win. Frankly I would like to be deployed to a warzone just to prove that I'm just as good as anyone else; but at the same time I hate to think of the idea of actually taking someone's life, even if they are the enemy." Tanaka told her friend who just smirked

"Yeah well I guess in that regard I'm glad we are flying the F-15J then because we don't have any ground attack weapons. Our aircraft's purpose is strictly to defend our forces from other aircraft, which frankly I don't mind. I guess I would kill someone if it meant I was protecting my friends or comrades."

"Yeah I guess so too." Just then Tanaka and Keiko's cell phones went off. They both pulled them out adn looked at the screen. It was from JSDF HQ informing them that the Caliphate had struck the Allied ships in the Persian Gulf , and to report to the base for an emergency alert. "Well I honestly did not expect the Caliphate would strike first. Come on let's go to my apartment we'll take my car back to base." Tanaka and Keiko got up and began to walk out of the Raman shop. Before they got to the door someone practically tackled them, and a loud jet engine noise could be heard, a few seconds later a deafening explosion that shattered every window in the Raman shop. They ran outside to see a massive trail of destruction. Cars had been flipped over, windows had shattered for blocks on down, and at the end of the debris feild was the wreckage of a massive jumbo jet that had crashed a few blocks away smashing into the sushi restraunt that they would have been eating at had it not been busy. "Oh no this can't be happening." Just then another large jumbo jet flew low overhead and smashed into a skyscrapper just a few kilometers away, the fireball came out of the other end of the building, flaming wreckaged rainned down on the street below.

"Well it looks like you have gotten your wish Katsumi-chan." They both stared in silence at the horror of war that was upon them.

_On the morning of March the 17th over two dozen explosive laden passenger jets struck military and civilian targets across the western world. The Allied fleet lost the aircraft carriers USS Kitty Hawk and the Brazilian Sao Paulo. Additionally one Wasp Class assault ship was sunk (probably mistaken for an aircraft carrier). However as destructive as the attack on the fleet was the attack on civilian targets was worse. In Tokyo Japan over seven thousand died in two well coordinated attacks. In London parliament was destroyed, luckily it was out of session at the time. In Paris the Eifel Tower was destroyed. And in Germany a passenger jet skidded across a busy street finally exploding a block from the initial impact point over five thousand died in that attack alone. However despite this it could have been worse at least ten planes were shot down before they reached their targets. The Allied response however was mere hours away. _

**March 17th 2020 near the Bosporus Straight 13:20**

Lieutenant Marinos Mitralexis flew his Mirage 2000EG at high altitude. He turned on his radar and spotted the incoming bombers, two Caliphate H-6 Badgers. He looked over his shoulder and saw his wingmen were with him. His flight leader Major Andreas Antoniou flew at the head of the V shaped formation. He had his missiles armed and selected a target "Alright Marinos and Giannis take the bomber on the right; Yourkas and I will attack the bomber on the left. On my mark….1….2….3 FIRE!" Each Mirage 2000 Fired a Super 530 radar guided missile, the Greek pilots kept the enemy planes illuminated on their radars and after thirty seconds they were rewarded with a message on their HUD saying hit. Both enemy planes spiraled out of control and the Greeks let out a cheer that they had scored their first kills.

**March 17th 2020 near the Bosporus Straight 13:24 **

Colonel Heinrich Jager of the German Air Force was locked in a life or death struggle with a Caliphate F-16. He had already shot down one F-16 and he lost his wingman to the one he was currently engaging. His EF-2000 was being strained to its limits engaging this opponent. He turned hard to the right following his illusive prey, who tried to use his small aircrafts size to his advantage and out turn Jager. Jager thought about firing his remaining ASRAAM but, decided that he was too close for the warhead to arm. Instead he switched to the twenty-seven millimeter cannon on his plane. The F-16 rolled over on its back and dived for the ground, Jager followed suit, jerking his planes controls to the left and then back matching his opponent's maneuver. The F-16 lowered its altitude to roughly a hundred meters off the ground in order to avoid detection on radar. However Jager had a visual on his opponent and would follow him all the way back to his enemy's base if he had to. That was the type of pilot Jager was, a hunter just as his name implied. The F-16's pilot thought he was safe as he didn't try any evasive maneuvers, a fatal mistake. Jager maneuvered his plane behind the F-16 and lined up the target in his sights and let out a two second burst of gun fire, the cannon roared and Jager smelled the burning gunpowder which he always said smelled like victory. The shells burst along the F-16s fuselage and the tail section, then the F-16s right wing was explosively ripped off and the blue and grey camouflaged plane burst into flames and spiraled to the ground. Jager witnessed the pilot eject but saw no chute, he smiled and pulled away to circled his kill before turning back for home. Two kills on the first day of the war, Jager thought to himself that this was going to be a cake walk.

**March 17th 2020 near the Bosporus Straight 13:43**

Captain Leon Bishop and Lieutenant Alistair Wallcroft the plane's WSO hugged the ground with their Tornado GR4. Flying barley twenty five meters from the ground in order to avoid SAMs and interceptors was a risky business one wrong move and he could smash himself into the ground. He was two kilometers away from the target an enemy artillery position. He flew at Mach 0.8 to the target once, over the sight he saw dozens of astonished Turks stare at his Tornado and then to the bomblets released from his planes bomblet dispenser. The sub munitions detonated amongst the Turks and their artillery cannons. Upon circling back Leon grimaced at the carnage he had unleashed dozens of mangled bodies lay broken on the ground. But all was fair in love and war and if he didn't do that it would have been dead Allied Soldiers lying there.

"Bloody hell man, I was a WSO during the Libyan no fly zone but I never dropped bombs close enough to the ground to actually see the damage they cause to people. Shit it looks like a horror movie down there." Alistair said to Leon, who just grimaced. Leon's stomach was turning enough as it was, due to just a glimpse of what he had just done, the last thing he wanted to do was think about it.

"We had to do this Allied lives were at stake we had to do this to save them." Leon then made the mistake of looking back at the target, he saw that some of the Turks had survived and their heavily mutilated bodies try to crawl away from the fires that began to spread towards the stockpile of artillery shells. "Let's just get the hell out of here." Leon turned his plane back towards his base and began to head back home.

**March 17th 2020 Okinawa 17:12**

Brian O' Harris sat with his friends Captain Marcus Brown an A-10 pilot, and the Polish F-16 pilot Miroslaw Feric. They were all in a gloomy mood as they were going to war soon. When the Allied troops landed and secured forward airbases they would be deployed over the front.

"Well you know Brian the F-22 is a great plane you actually have the highest chance of any of us surviving this war." Miroslaw tried to bolster Brian's confidence, not that he really needed it Brian knew that he was an exceptional pilot but he was worried more for his two friends.

"I know I just don't want you two to get killed. I will be deployed to Army Group Delta while you two are with Bravo so I won't be able to watch out for you guys in the air anymore." Brian told his friends to which they both laughed.

"Ah don't worry man we will be fine we both know what we're doing beside the A-10s are practically indestructible." Marcus chuckled; the muscular African American had a very distinctive and low pitched laugh.

"Be careful Marcus they said the same thing about the Titanic you know." Miroslaw joked they all laughed.

"Hey guys just promise me you will make it out alive." Brian asked of them, they all nodded and agreed they would all make it out of the war alive.

**March 17th 2020 Okinawa 17:24**

Lieutenant Miroslaw Feric thought about the promise he made to his friend as he walked out of the mess hall. He knew that it wasn't a promise he could keep he was going to die in this war. Even the best get unlucky sometimes.

**March 17th 2020 Okinawa 17:25**

Marcus Brown was one of the best A-10 pilots that ever graced the earth, or at least that is what he told himself and he believed it to. They called him the Iron Giant due to his size and his toughness just like his airplane. Marcus was going to survive this war then go back home and, well go and do something else; he hadn't thought that part out yet.

**March 18th 2020 Wake Island 0:00**

Captain Alex Stone and his WSO Jose Martinez watched the reports of catastrophe and death from around the world flood in. they had turned on CNN and listened to Anderson Cooper detail the crash site of a downed passenger jet as it had been shot down by an Air National Guard F-16 somewhere near Las Vegas.

"So I think you owe me twenty bucks Jose." Alex smugly looked over to Jose who laughed.

"Hey man that is not fair I said we might strike first and…" Alex cut his friend off

"And nothing pay up I won fair and square." Alex and Jose both laughed, and Jose pulled out his wallet and gave his pilot the money he owed him.

"Alright alright you win. Anyway so what do you think is going to happen where do you think we will be sent when the troops land?" the WSO asked Alex.

"I don't know man we might just be bounced around the whole front I haven't been told which Army Group we have been assigned to. But I am sure we will find out within the next few hours." Alex scratched his head, he hated the buzz cut the military made him have, and it always made his hair itchy when it started to grow out again. Alex also hated how his sandy blonde hair made him look bald when he had a buzz cut. His WSO sat up straight on the couch.

"You know where I want to go man, Iraq my old man died there because some towel headed coward set off a road side bomb near his HMMWV killing him instantly. Been twelve years and I still am sore over it my familia has never been the same." Jose scowled as he said the last words.

"Hey man, we are going to war and we are going to kill all of those towel heads." Alex reassured his Weapon Systems Officer who smiled back at him

"Yeah bomb them to the stone age."

**March 18th 2020 somewhere near Baghdad 01:00**

Major John Bradley sat in his B-2 stealth bomber with his navigator/bombardier Preston Milow. They were part of a large Allied strike mission that consisted of nearly a dozen B-2s and thirty unmanned B-3 bombers, in addition to hundreds of the Navy's new BGM-200 supersonic stealth cruise missiles. Their targets were the Caliphates nuclear weapon stockpiles. The CIA had pinpointed where literally every nuke in the Caliphate was, and they were going to destroy them. They were approaching the target. On their IR scopes they saw the target it was in a bunker underneath an orphanage. John hated the Caliphate's leaders for stooping so low but it was their fault not his that he was going to kill civilians tonight. They opened the bomb bay doors and selected the sixteen two thousand pound bunker busting bombs they were carrying. U.S. Special Forces had placed IR beacons on all of the different bunkers on the complex. They flew slowly and silently over the target every few seconds the plane would buck as a bomb was released. After a few seconds a string of explosions was visible on the IR scope. The target was completely destroyed along with the orphanage. John wondered how many innocent people he had just killed, and the rage he felt because of it. He thought to himself this is going to be a long war. John heard a muffled voice from inside the cockpit; he turned his head to see Preston was trying to speak to him. John shook his head and gave Preston the, be quiet hand gesture. Preston rolled his eyes and went back to his work. John thought to himself how many innocent lives are going to die in this war. AAA began to light up the night sky but at the altitude he was at he had little to worry about. A few surface-to-air missiles flew through the air possibly hoping to score a lucky hit but to no avail. John turned his bomber back towards the coast and began to head back to Okinawa.

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**Hey everyone I hoped you enjoyed this chapter the next one is coming soon, with more action ahead. I know that the characters did not get much screen time but i promise you as the story picks up each chapter will give the characters more time in the sun than the first two. P.S. I added a poll on my account please vote on it I am very interested in seeing your opinion **


	3. Storm of Steel

**Alright so here is chapter 3 basically it covers the first major engagment between the Allies and the Caliphate anyway enjoy**

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Storm of Steel

_March 18__th__ 2020, as the initial shock the world had suffered at the brutal opening attacks by the Caliphate had began to wear off the Alliance was gathering its strength in the pacific to meet the bulk of the Caliphate's navy in a head on engagement. Several hundred ships from both sides met in the largest surface to surface engagement since the First World War. Yet even as the battle began Allied ground troops from Army Group Alpha crossed into Caliphate territory and began to push towards the Bosporus Straight meeting light resistance mostly from scattered groups of irregular Fedayeen forces with little armored and air support. In particular one lopsided engagement begun when a lone German Leopard 2A6 engaged and destroyed an entire company of M48 Patton tanks used by the Fedayeen. However, despite this success it was later learned that the Caliphate had never intended to hold both sides of the Bosporus Straight. Realizing that they could only place an insignificant force to oppose the Allied army, they planned to forfeit the "Greek side" of the waterway in order to better defend their side of the straight. In fact, the Caliphate had constructed a number of hidden bunkers and fortifications looking across the straight waiting for the inevitable landing operation that was soon to come. For now, however, the world turned its eyes towards the pacific to watch the climactic battle between two mighty fleets unfold. _

**March 18****th**** 2020 the Pentagon 02:32**

William Mitchell stormed into Admiral Halsey's office. He was furious at him for letting the events of yesterday unfold. The Admiral of the Navy got off the phone and looked at Mitchell.

"What is it?" the Admiral asked, with a noticeable amount of stress in his voice.

"Well I imagine a naval battle is about to start between the Allied fleet and the enemies and I wanted to know how the Air Force can help," The Air Force General inquired the Naval Officer

"The Air Force should concentrate on bombing enemy off shore oil facilities, DIA says they are being used as large SAM and anti-ship missile platforms. Additionally, try to destroy some of the enemy dry docks to help disable some of the enemy's navy, or at least deny them the ability to resupply at sea." The Admiral reached into his desk and pulled out a file for the general. "I hate how we have gone back to paper based Intel packets, but you said it yourself, the Caliphate has the largest cyber army on the planet and they have tried to hack us before."

"Yeah we had to disable wireless for this building and disconnect the internet here so we can't be hacked unless someone is physically in the building. Anyway, where is the Secretary of Defense I need to ask him something?"

"He is with the President; they are talking to the Prime Minister of Japan to see if they need our assistance on disaster relief."

"Ah I see. Anyway, how bad was the damage to our fleets because of the attack?" Inquired Mitchell

"Well it wasn't as bad as we feared a couple of F-18s on the Kitty Hawk along with some ASW planes and SAR choppers. On the Brazilin carrier they lost somewhere between four and six A-4s and the USS Wasp was mostly being used as a helicopter assault ship so we didn't lose any planes but we did lose about two dozen helicopters of different types."

"Ah, good at least it was not as bad as I initially feared then. Anyway, I should probably be going I need to plan the attack on the enemy oil platforms. We should also strike Khark I read a report that they have an airbase and missile facilities on the island," The general informed his navy counterpart.

"Right but perhaps you should leave most of the airfield intact; we can use it as a forward airbase when we secure the island. Anyway it is your operation do as you see fit. Well I have to call my admiral in the field so I must go now, good bye, Mitchell." They both saluted and William began to walk out of the office.

**March 18****th**** 2020 Tehran 03:39 **

Shiraz Hosseini sat smugly in his office drinking his tea. He wondered what the American's were doing at the Pentagon, probably running around like chickens with their heads cut off, he thought to himself. He set his tea down and began to type his orders to the Strategic Bomber Command (SBC for short). He wanted to have all of the H-6D bombers loaded with anti-ship missiles and a handful of the Tu-22M3s loaded with Kh-32 to support the Navy while they engaged the Allied fleet. After he finished sending his orders to the SBC he typed up a request for the Revolutionary guard to deploy its drones against the Allies, and finally he contacted the Fighter Command to get aircraft loaded with ASMs to attack the enemy fleet directly. After punching in some numbers on his keyboard, a computer program estimated somewhere between thirty to forty percent causalities among the fighters and ten percent of the bombers. He frowned, that was more causalities then he was expecting but not enough to cripple the Air Force. Shiraz now turned his attention to the Turkish front, where the irregulars were being beaten badly by the Allies. The Fedayeen commander requested more air support, to which Shiraz denied. If the Fedayeen commander hadn't figured it out yet that he was a sacrificial lamb than he never would. The Fedayeen would buy time while the regular army gathered strength to beat back the Allies when they crossed the Bosporus. Shiraz looked over another report regarding the loss of the Caliphate's nuclear weapons; a massive blow yet one that in the end didn't truly matter, the Caliphate could beat the Allies conventionally he thought, and he knew that the Allies would not use nuclear weapons against his nation for fear of tainting the oil supply. So this war like all wars would be strictly conventional. Shiraz smiled this was his time for glory.

**March 18****th**** the Pacific Ocean 06:14 **

Dawn was fast approaching strike package delta a mix of different aircraft sent out to attack the enemy fleet from the carrier to Ronald Jackson looked from side to side seeing Beast Flight along with dozens of other planes from the USS Ronald Regan. Their mission was to attack an enemy fleet centered around the former Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov. Beast Flight was carrying four AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The entire formation was radio silent and was flying close to the water to avoid radar interception. They were roughly thirty miles from the enemy fleet. In front of the formation was Major Marcus Wright Beast Flight's leader. To his left was Lieutenant Tom Freeman and Lieutenant Jack Sawyer they were Beast Flight's number three and four respectively. Behind Jackson were F-35Cs and F/A-18Es from other squadrons. They were to provide top cover or to attack the enemy fleet with ASMs depending on the squadron. They were now within fifteen miles of the enemy fleet.

"Star 1 to all units, break radio silence and move to combat altitudes. Our primary target is the enemy aircraft carrier; the other surface ships our secondary targets. All units engage." The mission commander ordered them to attack. Several F-35s and F/A-18Es raised altitude and radar warnings about enemy aircraft began to looked at his radar; roughly ten Mig-29Ks were flying CAP for the enemy fleet. Jackson turned his radar to air to surface mode and selected a target; an enemy Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate probably sold to Pakistan before they joined the Caliphate.

"This is Beast 2, missile away!" Jackson pulled the trigger on his flight stick and a single AGM-84 Harpoon jettisoned from his aircraft and rocketed to its target.

"This is Beast 3, missile away!" a Harpoon flew off Lieutenant Freeman's wing and shot towards an enemy ship. Sawyer and Wright both launched one missile each which sped towards their targets. Several seconds later on Jackson's HUD an indication of a hit occurred and an explosion was visible on the horizon. Tracers began to light up the sky and the remaining ships began to fire wildly into the air to destroy the American aircraft. On his radar, Jackson watched the F-35s engage the Mig-29Ks which tried to scatter in order to not be destroyed. Other planes in the American formation began firing anti-ship missiles at the enemy fleet in order to clear a path to the aircraft carrier. Several explosions could be seen on the horizon as some of the American missiles were shot down by the enemy anti-missile systems, however other missiles struck home and several massive explosions could be seen.

"Beast Flight save your missiles for the carrier let the other flights handle the small fries." Major Wright ordered his wingmen.

"Roger that sir we have three remaining missiles apiece." Jackson told his flight leader.

"Understood Beast 2, stay in formation, don't launch single ship attacks." The flight leader ordered Jackson. They began to close on the enemy fleet five miles before the enemy carrier. They were in range it was now or never. They fired the twelve remaining anti-ship missiles and pulled up to gain altitude. Jackson watched as the missiles headed towards their target. Barley visible through his night vision was a single Mig-29K taking off of the carrier, barley escaping the fiery death of its comrades still aboard the ship. The other ships engaged the missiles with CIWS shooting down two, but for the Kuznetsov it was too late; the missiles struck the ship with enough force to visibly push the carrier in the water. Massive secondary explosions could be seen and the whole carrier began listing to the side. Jackson hit the airbrakes and kicked the right rudder pedal to begin a high-g turn to the right in order to better maneuver behind the Mig-29K that was desperately trying to get to combat altitude. He switched his radar to air-to-air mode and began to track the lone Mig-29, who now aware of the danger began to dive for the deck and switched on his afterburners. Jackson began to pursue as he switched on his afterburners and gave chase to his fleeing prey. The Mig-29 turned hard to the left in order to fly through the Caliphate fleet that was burning and firing sporadically into the sky, in the vain attempt to get Jackson to break off the engagement. Jackson flew directly overhead of an Udaloy class destroyer that opportunistically fired some of its lighter AA guns at Jackson. Jackson switched to his heat seeking AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles mounted on the wingtips of his F/A-18E; he slaved the missiles to his helmet mounted targeting system and began to track the Mig-29K. The Mig-29 flew between two Chinese built frigates just barley avoiding being caught in an explosion as one of the frigates was hit by a Harpoon. Warning lights and alarms flashed in Jackson's helmet as a Salva class cruiser fired a missile at him. Jackson pulled hard to the left and popped chaff to confuse the missile. The missile kept tracking him, so he passed over another enemy ship, a burning frigate of indeterminate class. Suddenly, the missile alert stopped as the missile lost its tracking and presumably hit the enemy ship. Jackson looked for the Mig-29K that he was chasing, but was unable to find it. He scanned left to right and then up, bright white tracers flew passed his cockpit.

"Oh shit!" Jackson said as he hit the airbrakes and slammed his right rudder. Jackson's Super Hornet shifted to the right and the Mig-29K overshot him, the orange flames from its twin engines glowed in the night sky. Jackson stared at his opponent as the AIM-9X acquired a lock on the enemy plane's heat signature. A box appeared over the enemy plane and a shoot command appeared. "Beast two FOX Two!" Jackson shouted as he pulled the trigger and the heat seeking missile rocketed from his wingtip. As if guided by the hand of God the missile went straight for the Mig-29, all the enemy pilot could do was eject as the missile impacted his aircraft which burst into flames. Jackson took a sigh of relief as he watched his fallen prey. Just then over the radio, the Mission Commander spoke.

"Alright everyone mission complete let's RTB." Jackson turned towards the waypoint to return home and hit the afterburners.

**March 18****th**** the Pacific Ocean 07:54**

Sabrina Gokcen was ready to kill. For the first time in her life she was not only prepared to take someone's life but eager to do so. She hadn't been able to sleep since she witnessed the horror of the Caliphate's first strike. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the faces of the little boy and mother who waved at her just before their plane smashed into the Kitty Hawk. She wondered, did they know they were going to die or were they just as surprised as she was when the plane crashed into the carrier. At this point it didn't matter, Muslim or not she promised herself that she was going to kill every last Caliphate officer who had come up with that truly evil plan. She was at 30,000 feet with her wingman, Thatch, who was unusually quite that day. He hadn't said much to her since yesterday, he was in as much shock as she was. They were flying CAP again today while some planes from the USS George H.W. Bush flew strike missions against an enemy surface fleet somewhere to the north. Thatch finally broke the silence.

"Hey Sabrina are you awake up there?" he asked with a slight chuckle could be heard from his end of the microphone. She smirked a little then answered back.

"Yeah I am, what is up?" she replied as she scanned the skies with her planes radar.

"I am just wondering about the Major Wilkinson and Ramirez is all. I heard they made it to the Carl Vinson but I haven't heard anything else from them, have you?" he inquired of her.

"No I haven't heard a peep from the Carl Vinson. Just to let you know, Raven Flight might be split in two in which case I will be the flight leader." She replied to her wingman, who took a few seconds to respond.

"Uh oh, right on, uh we are still going to be friends right, even though you rank over me and everything right?"

"Yeah of course but in the air I am you CO so you will have to treat me just like you did the Major got it?"

"Yeah, of course I will. Anyway let me contact Thunder Blockhead to see if anything has changed on his radar." Thatch cleared his throat and switched to the AWACS Thunderhead's

frequency. "Raven 1-3 calling Thunderhead, is there anything on your scopes?" There was no reply "Raven 1-3 to Thunderhead hello is anyone home. Damn it what the hell is Thunderhead doing." James Thatch called one more time to the AWACS without a response before Sabrina decided to see if she could contact the George H.W. Bush

"Command, we have lost contact with the AWACS can you see if you can reestablish contact with them." She asked the CIC

"Uh this is Command we have lost the AWACS in question as well, last we heard was they were investigating two small objects approaching them on radar but that was the last we heard from them, we will give you the coordinates to investigate in a moment."

"Roger that Command awaiting your instructions." Sabrina waited for a few seconds before the CIC told her to heading to the last know location of the AWACS they began to head in that direction, they both turned their radars to low probability of intercept mode. They got within ten miles of the last know location when on their radars they saw several large unidentified objects approaching. They weren't flashing Allied IFF so they had to be hostile aircraft either ASM equipped bombers or more suicide jumbo jets. "Thatch we have unidentified objects on radar they appear to be enemy bombers lets shoot these assholes down." She activated her weapons systems and selected a medium range AIM-120C AMRAAM. She locked onto a target, the radar signature it was giving off suggested that it was a Chinese built H-6D Badger. She waited until she got a lock on the enemy plane and her HUD gave her the signal to shoot. "Raven 1-2 FOX 3!" she fired the AIM-120 which first dropped from the now open weapons bay and then shot off towards the incoming bomber at Mach 3. James Thatch fired a missile a second later. They switched to their next targets and fired their second AIM-120s simultaneously. Fifteen seconds later the first bomber was hit dead center by an AIM-120. It exploded in mid air and its wreckage went tumbling down into the sea. A few seconds later the other missiles hit and two more bombers went down. Both of Sabrina's missiles resulted in kills. "Command we have multiple bombers incoming and we are near bingo fuel request assistance in grid sector Charlie 13."

"Roger that Raven 1-3 we are vectoring in other fighters to your location. You have permission to RTB." The CIC told them. They turned back towards the carrier and began to fly home. After a few seconds Thatch spoke up.

"Captain, we may have a problem I'm getting a weird radar signature closing fast on us can you check your scopes to see if you see it as well they are approaching us heading vectors 280." Sabrina looked at her weapons load she still had her AIM-9X Sidewinders onboard for a dogfight if need be and she knew Thatch had the same.

"Roger that Thatch, yeah I see it to, whatever they are they are approaching us at Mach 2.5, but the radar signature is really small." Suddenly missile alerts blared in her helmet. "Shit break, break!" they both turned in opposite directions of one another and deployed their countermeasures. The missiles zoomed by as they lost track. The enemy aircraft were closing to within visual range. Sabrina rolled her aircraft up and two the right, at such an angle that when she reached a certain point she began to descend. She saw two black painted planes on the horizon. J-20s, enemy stealth fighters, and they were heading straight for her. Sabrina switched on her Sidewinders and selected the enemy plane closest to her. Seeming to sense this, the enemy pilot turned towards her and they began to approach each other head on. The J-20 began to fire its 30mm cannon at her, the white tracers fell short of her planes but at the closing speed they were at the next burst would hit. She locked onto the J-20 and fired a missile it zoomed from the weapons bay and headed towards the enemy who began to climb and shoot out flares. Sabrina gave chase and climbed as well. "Thatch you take the one closest to you I will take out the one gaining altitude." She ordered her wingman, who was already in a turning fight with the enemy plane.

"Roger that, hey Captain they aren't as maneuverable as us but they are a hell of a lot faster than us. So get them in a turning fight." Her wingman informed her.

"Understood, Thatch stay safe." She told him as she began to accelerate towards her climbing opponent. She had one remaining missile and her cannon if it came down to that. The J-20 was beginning to flip onto its back and reverse its direction so it would engage Sabrina; however this would prove to be a fatal mistake. As the less agile plane took too long to complete its maneuver, Sabrina closed the distance and fired her remaining missile which slammed into the center of the enemy plane splitting it in half. Her fallen prey flew past her as she began to level out, she realized that she was the first person to shoot down a Fifth Generation aircraft in battle; she had just secured a place in history for herself. She looked down in just enough time to watch as Thatch turned hard into his opponent's turn and fired his cannon at the J-20 shattering both man and machine. "Shit Thatch I confirm that kill nice going." She congratulated her wingman, who she heard chuckle back to her.

"Thanks you did pretty good today as well three kills in one day that is something for the record books." He congratulated her as well. If things kept going this well they might just make it home alive after all. Several F/A-18E Super Hornets flew by afterburners on full blast. They were going after the bombers. Part of Sabrina wished she could turn back and join them. Sabrina thought to herself, during the dogfight she was terrified yet at the same time she enjoyed the thrill of being in a life and death scenario. She wondered if she would feel the same way the next time she was in a life and death struggle.

**March 18****th**** the Pacific Ocean 08:02 **

Omar Goben's plane was loaded with Exocet anti-ship missiles. He along with the rest of his flight was tasked with attacking an Allied surface fleet that was already in a fierce battle with one of the Caliphate's surface fleet. They were planning on going after the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier that was the flagship of the Infidel Royal Navy. A dozen Mirage F1s and several UCAVs flew barley ten meters from the water in order to avoid detection. They had turned their radar's on in order to better spot the enemy fleet.

"This is Saladin 1 to all units, raise altitude to 300 meters and begin attack on the enemy fleet." Omar's flight leader said to the formation. Just as he was told without question he raised his altitude to 300 meters and continued his heading towards the enemy fleet. They were starting to show up on his radar now. Ten ships, two of them on fire and sinking. Omar followed standard flight procedures and began to close within ten kilometers of the enemy fleet before firing his Exocets. Over the radio he heard several other flight members yelling how they had been locked onto by enemy fighters even though there were none around. He continued flying level even as some of his wingmen began to break formation. In the skies above him Omar watched several missiles launches. One of the fleeing Mirages exploded into a ball of fire as it suffered a direct hit from an enemy missile. He was within fifteen kilometers from the target. He continued his course. Several UCAVs in front and below him were destroyed their wreckage smashing into the water. Saladin 1 flew across Omar's field of vision an ASRAAM was hot on his tail and in an instant Saladin 1's plane blew in half. Roughly five out of the original twelve aircraft remained not counting the UCAVs. Omar closed within firing range and released both of his missiles. His aircraft bucked hard when they released. He watched the missiles fly towards their target the HMS Queen Elizabeth. A Type 45 destroyer frantically fired both of its CIWS in order to shoot down the incoming missiles but no avail. Each of the remaining UCAVs had also fired their missiles which caused the volume of missiles in the air to be so great that the Type 45 could not intercept them all. However to Omar's rage the British ship did something he did not expect. The ship moved at flank speed to block the path of the missile to the carrier and both of his Exocets struck the destroyer which then burst into flames. Omar disappointed at his failure turned and headed for home. He was unaware that he had been fired upon no less than six times on his attack run but to his luck each time the attacker missed him.

**March 18****th**** the Pacific Ocean 10:54 **

Lieutenant Allama Mashriqi was extremely excited for he was actually being deployed in a real war. He didn't really contemplate the fact that he was actually going to end up killing people, to him war was one big game, where both side gave their all and got to show off their newest toys and whoever had the best toys won, so to say. He was flying an escort mission for the Caliphate's Tu-22M bombers which were to strike the USS Nimitz with long range Kh-32 anti-ship missiles. Just one of the massive missiles should be enough to destroy the carrier. The J-10s like the one he was flying were all loaded with PL-12 and PL-8 AAM so they were light and maneuverable in order for them to dogfight with the American Navy planes. It was cloudy today over this section of the pacific for some reason. It could provide perfect cover for him if he got in a within visual range engagement.

"Vampire 1 to Vampire 2 through 4 stick close to me until the enemy arrives then you are authorized to engage enemy planes at will. Oh and Mashriqi don't do anything stupid while engaging the enemy, you fly like a man possessed." The flight lead ordered him, to which he laughed loudly.

"Sure thing Captain Mohammed I won't do anything to stupid." They both laughed loudly. Suddenly the A-50 AEW plane warned them over the radio.

"Attention Vampire and Huntsmen flight you have six enemy F/A-18 Hornets approaching your location, intercept them and keep them away from the enemy bombers." The Flight Controller on board the A-50 ordered them.

"Understood sir, engaging the enemy fighters." Captain Mohammed told the AEW operator, they jettisoned their drop tanks and began to head towards the enemy planes. Mashriqi selected the F/A-18 at the far right of the formation and locked onto the enemy plane with a PL-12 missile. He got the shoot signal on his HUD and fired the missile. The PL-12 flew off his wing and jetted off towards its intended victim. The F/A-18 pilot fired a missile at Mashriqi and banked hard left popping chaff to confuse the incoming missile. Mashriqi put his aircraft into a dive and shot out both flares and chaff to confuse the incoming missile. The incoming missile lost track and went ballistic, however the American was less lucky. The PL-12 struck home and in the distance Mashriqi could see an explosion. Mashriqi rejoiced as he scored his first kill in battle. Two J-10s were shot down one from his flight the other from Huntsmen. However five of the six Hornets were destroyed. The remaining Hornet dove for the deck but continued to head towards Mashriqi's formation.

"Captain Permission to engage the enemy's remaining plane?" Mashriqi asked his Captain who gave a quick response.

"Permission granted you can engage the target at will." Mashriqi didn't need to be told twice he put his plane in a Split S as he rolled his plane on its back and pulled back on the stick in order to maneuver his plane behind the F/A-18. The American realizing the threat pulled up and to the right in order to throw off Mashriqi's shot. Mashriqi pushed his J-10 to the peak of its abilities in order to continue to keep the American in his sights. The American rolled his plane in order to decrease speed to force an overshoot. Mashriqi hit the brakes and kicked his ruder to the side in order to get a better shot with his cannon. He pulled the trigger and a stream of 23mm cannon shells struck the enemy plane which shattered like glass. "Excellent shot Vampire 4 I confirm the kill."

"Thank you sir, what is the status on the bombers have they fired their missiles yet?" Mashriqi asked. Just then his question was answered as several Kh-32s flew across the sky towards the enemy fleet. "Never mind sir I see the missile launched now." Mashriqi began to climb up to join the formation which just finished firing its second volley of missiles when suddenly from the cloud cover several grey painted F-35Cs appeared cannons blazing striking two bombers and a J-10 all of which burst into flames and spiraled to the earth. Mashriqi engaged his afterburners and went after one of the F-35s. He selected one that had just fired an AIM-9X at a J-10 destroying it, Mashriqi got on the tail of his opponent and gave chase. He selected his IR guided PL-8 missile and fired. The F-35 shot out flares and turned to avoid the missile. The PL-8 veered off to chase the flares. Mashriqi fired his remaining PL-8 which was again avoided in a similar manner, so Mashriqi began to close in order to fire his cannon. The F-35 turned back to attack the formation of bombers which had broken off the attack and began to head home. The American fired an AIM-120 which struck one of the Tu-22Ms on its right wing sheering it straight off. Then over the radio Mashriqi heard his Captain's voice.

"Vampire 1 to all remaining friendly fighters, I have one plane on my tail and I can't shake him I need assistance!" The Captain had genuine fear in his voice as the enemy plane closed in on him. Mashriqi disengaged from his current opponent and turned to help his Flight Leader. An F-35 was hot on Mohammed's tail firing its 25mm cannon. Mashriqi then watched in horror as his Commander's J-10 stalled and was struck by several cannon shells. "Mayday mayday I am hit and I lost all control. The ejection handle is stuck I am going dow…." He never got to finish his sentence his plane smacked into the water. Then as suddenly as the American stealth fighters attacked they disengaged and left the retreating Caliphate planes leave. Mashriqi did a count of the remaining planes. Originally in the strike package there were eight Tu-22Ms and twelve J-10s now there was one damaged Tu-22M and three remaining J-10s. At this rate the Caliphate's Air Force would be decimated quickly, something had to change for them and fast.

**March 18****th**** the Persian Gulf 13:12**

Noel Castelain moved his plane to the catapult on the Charles De Gaulle. Pierre Madon was in the air already, however his other wingmen Lieutenant Charles Nungesser and Lieutenant Rene Fonck were still on the carrier preparing to take off.

"This is Captain Castelain requesting permission to take off." Noel asked the Flight Controller, after a few seconds he got a reply.

"This is the Tower you are cleared for takeoff happy hunting." The tower responded to him. The catapult operator gave him the thumbs up and crouched as Noel shot forward and quickly reached over three hundred kilometers an hour. Noel pulled back on his flight stick to gain altitude. He reached five thousand meters and flew alongside Pierre. He scanned his radar looking for any enemy planes but no such luck at the moment. A few seconds later he saw another Rafale M take off of the Carrier.

"This is Lion 3 I am airborne." Rene Fonck informed his Flight Commander. A minute and a half later Charles Nungesser shot off the deck of the CDG (Charles De Gaulle) and along with Rene reached combat altitude with Noel and Pierre.

"Captain why is it that the rest of the CDG's pilots are attacking the enemy fleet while we are stuck on a boring CAP mission?" asked Charles, who flew his grey painted Rafale way to close to Rene for comfort.

"First of all Lion 4 get some distance from Lion 3, and secondly it's because while the Super Etendards and Rafales of our ship and that of the Richelieu our ships are vulnerable to the enemy. So in other words we are all that stands between the French Navy and those greasy sand monkeys. Now be quiet and keep your head on a swivel. Remember these bastards have killed thousands of our country men and women in Paris; now is our time for payback." Noel sternly told his subordinates. He clenched his flight stick with anticipation of a fight with his mortal enemies. They were silent for a few seconds before his friend Pierre spoke up.

"Captain Sir, why do you hate them so much even before the war you have always hated Muslims. Hell as long as I have known you, you've hated the Muslims even before we joined the Navy." Pierre asked his friend even though he knew he would not get a straight answer from his secretive Captain.

"I have my reasons and I would rather just leave it at that if it is all of the same to you. Now let's begin our patrol shall we this is not a social visit." Charles grumbled a bit but they all turned and began to head towards their first waypoint. A few moments later an alert sounded in Noel's cockpit. Eight Sukhoi SU-33 Sea Flankers appeared on radar spread one kilometer apart and separated by three hundred meters in altitude. "Alright people this is it engage the fighters who are at the higher altitude they are flying escort for the others which are loaded with ASMs. Rene stick with me Pierre and Charles watch each other backs when we merge with the enemy." Noel ordered his wingmen who responded with a speed only matched by years of training together.

"Roger that sir switching to MICA medium range missiles." Pierre told Noel who also switched to his MICAs.

"Everyone target the SU-33 closest to you but wait to fire until my order." They all picked their targets they were at the maximum range of their MICAs' range. Noel got a warning alarm that an enemy missile had been launched and he confirmed on radar that all four of the engaged Sukhois had fired a missile at his flight.

"Sir we have just been fired upon request permission to fire." Rene asked clearly tense at the oncoming missiles.

"Not yet wait." Noel told his wingman. The missiles were within twenty five kilometers

"Sir we need to fire now!" Charles shouted.

"No god damn it just trust me." the missiles were eighteen kilometers away. "Now, fire your missiles and evade the enemies' weapons!" Noel pressed the missile launch button and then flipped his plane over and dove for the sea. The missile warning ceased as the enemy plane which had to cease tracking Noel in order to avoid the oncoming missile tried to evade the incoming MICA. Fortunately for Noel the MICA had its own radar in the missile so it could independently track the target. Noel flipped his plane back towards the enemy and engaged the afterburner to quickly gain altitude. He saw in the distance four bright orange explosions and his HUD informed him that his missile had scored a direct hit. He smiled at his first kill of the day. The other SU-33 jettisoned their anti-ship missiles and began to gain speed closing on Noel's flight he began to track another SU-33 and he fired another MICA then switched targets to another Sukhoi and began to track it as the remaining SU-33s merged with Lion flight. Noel looked to his right just in time to see the Sukhoi he fired at burst into flames upon the missile impact. Pierre fired a Magic 2 missile at a Sukhoi he was chasing it popped flares in order to avoid the missile but two no avail as the missile struck its right wing cutting it off. The stricken SU-33 spewed flames and burning fuel as it spiraled into the sea.

"Shit I have one at my six o'clock I can't shake him someone get him off me!" Rene shouted in panic he was climbing and turning his agile fighter to the best of his abilities but the blue and white camouflaged SU-33 was not so easily deterred. It followed Rene like if he was holding a rope. Noel increased his speed and began to close on the Arab aircraft.

"Rene when I order you to level out then break right do you understand?" Noel inquired of his wingman. Who was still climbing and turning.

"Yes sir I understand." Rene replied. Noel reached an altitude of fifteen thousand meters. Noel switched to his thirty millimeter cannon, and decreased speed.

"Level out now!" Rene did as he was ordered the Sukhoi did as well. "Now turn hard right!" Rene pulled a hard right passing a kilometer in front of Noel the Sukhoi did as well but in his quest for a kill the Arab pilot failed to notice Noel line up a clear shot on his aircraft. Noel squeezed the firing button and a stream of yellow traces spewed from his cannon, ripping both man and machine apart. The SU-33 was literally ripped in two as if someone had used a giant buzz saw on the plane. Noel laughed with joy as he killed his third opponent of the day. Noel then noticed Charles turning on the last enemy plane's tail firing a MICA missile at close range it impacted the rear of the SU-33 ripping the plane's tail right off. "Excellent work everyone the wine is on me tonight people." Noel gleefully told his wingmen who were in equally high spirits. No French pilot or sailor had lost their lives in this fight.

"We should be congratulating you Captain Castelain on your four kills; you are one away from being an ace. In fact you would be the first ace in French naval history if you get one more kill sir." Pierre told him. A smile came over Noel yes he would be honor for doing what he loved, killing Muslims.

_The battle of the Persian Gulf on March 18__th__ was the largest naval engagement since the Battle of Jutland in 1916, and the first carrier to carrier engagement since the Second World War. The battle was costly for both sides yet the Allies came out on top. The Caliphate lost the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and the Indian aircraft carriers Vikrant and Viraat. The Chinese aircraft carrier the Varyag was heavily damaged. In addition to the loss of three of its five carriers (the other carriers were mysteriously absent at the time however it would later become painfully clear where they were hiding and what they planned on doing), nearly seventy different surface ships and submarines were destroyed. In one lopsided engagement the USS Zumwalt destroyed three Luhu class destroyers using Tomahawk cruise missiles. In another engagement one of the two Kirov class battle cruisers used by the Caliphate was struck five times by the 16inch guns from an Iowa class battleship. One shell struck the forward magazine causing a catastrophic eruption splitting the ship in two. However despite these successes the battle was not without loss for the allies. Several destroyers and frigates were lost to enemy fire and the USS Nimitz was damaged by a near miss from an enemy missile. Now with the bulk of the enemy navy destroyed the Allies began to close in on the enemy shoreline to commence the invasion of their lands._

**March 19****th**** near Khark Island 0:02 **

He had refueled his F-22 twice on his way from Okinawa to his target they had flown fast and quietly to their target, an offshore oil facility used as a missile base by the Caliphate. Brian O' Harris looked down at his fuel gauge, he was at seventy five percent more than enough to strike his target and return to a tanker. He looked to his wingman Charlie Yeager also flying an F-22; Charlie was about twenty yards away and his plane just like Brian's was loaded with two 1,000Ibs JDAM bombs in its internal weapons bay. He was two miles out from the target and was ready to strike the platform with his JDAMs. They closed on the facility despite being not having a single light on, Brian could see the massive platform easily due to his night vision goggles. He locked onto his target and dropped both bombs in quick succession. After about a minute, massive explosions erupted on top of the platform. A few surface ships and smaller platforms began to shoot AAA wildly into the air, groping in the dark for their invisible killers. However at the altitude Brian and Charlie were at neither of them had to worry about AAA. They flew back towards their waiting tanker plane. Suddenly his AESA radar had contacts appear, a flight of two F-4 phantoms on CAP near Khark. His wingman broke radio silence.

"Hey Specter 1-3 are we clear to engage enemy aircraft?" asked Brian's wingman, Brian checked his fuel he had sixty five percent.

"Yeah we are clear to engage the F-4s are five miles out let's close the distance and engage the targets with AIM-9s." they increased speed and put them on a course that would put them directly behind the enemy aircraft. They closed the distance until they were within visual range of their opponents. Against the black of the night sky, they could clearly see the bright white light of the F-4s' massive engines. They were perfect targets for the AIM-9Xs that they carried. "Specter 1-4 you take the one of the left I will take the one on the right." Brian told his wingman.

"Roger that I am locking him up now." Brian's AESA radar was on low probability of intercept mode. He selected the F-4 on the right and got a lock with his IR guided missile. He pulled the trigger on his flight stick and the AIM-9X shot out of the side mounted weapons bay and sped towards the unsuspecting Phantom. Charlie launched his missile as well. They watched the bright white light of their missiles' engines head towards their intended targets. They impacted near simultaneously. Both of the F-4s shattered into a half a dozen pieces and began to fall to the sea. With the oil rig SAM sites knocked out and some of the Caliphate interceptors destroyed hopefully the way was clear for the B-52s to strike Khark.

**March 19****th**** Khark Island Air Base 02:35**

Farid Arbab sat in his flight suit in the barracks at the Khark island air base. He was with his RIO Afshin Tehrani, his wingman Captain Jalal Zandi and Jalal's RIO Kardavani. They were on alert at any moment they could be called upon to go into the air to fight the Americans, or as their Mullah insisted on calling them the "Crusaders".

"This is such bullshit why do we have to just sit here and wait why can't we get into the air and fly damn it. We should be in the air they have already blown up the SAM sites on the oil rigs around this place." Farid voiced his frustrations to his fellow pilots. Jalal looked at him and stroked his beard.

"Huh that is a good question it would be more efficient then to have us in the air but that would also mean we would burn more fuel so maybe that is why." Jalal answered, both RIOs ignored the conversation entirely.

"I guess so, anyway aren't you guys looking forward to shoving a Phoenix missile down Uncle Sam's throat?" Farid asked everyone. Even as he said it he really didn't mean it. He would have been perfectly fine to keep the status quo with America. He was not a diehard Islamist he just wanted to fly.

"Yeah I'm looking forward to it. This war has been a long time coming and the Americans deserve a good beating for their wars of aggression. They supported Israel in its oppression of the people of Palestine now it is our turn to show them that we have the power now." Jalal told Farid. Just then the bases air raid siren went off. They got up from their chares and ran to their hangers. The ground crews had made sure his plane was fully fueled and loaded for an emergency. The air base on Khark was small it had to be because Khark was primarily an oil installation. The bas only had four fighters station there and two of them had been shot down. Farid got to his grey painted F-14 and climbed up the ladder to get into the front seat. Afshin got in the back seat and they both put their helmets and oxygen masks on. They had night vision goggles attached to their helmets tonight instead of visors they pulled it down and turned on the goggles giving everything a green glow. The ground crews quickly moved the ladder away from the plane and Farid started the engines. The powerful twin jet engines roared to life and his plane rolled out of the hanger. Jalal's plane had already taxied to the runway and was beginning to take off. Farid took a quick look at the weapons load, four AIM-54 Phoenix long range missiles, two AIM-9 Sidewinders and Two AIM-7 Sparrows. Contrary to popular believe in America Iran had managed to reverse engineer the Phoenix as early as 1998 and had continually upgraded it to be a more modern weapon.

"Hey Afshin you awake back their turn the radar on." Farid told his RIO as he taxied to the runway.

"Oh sorry I am a little sleepy." Afshin turned the Radar on.

"Well I don't need you sleepy I need you awake we are going into our first battle here and I don't need you to fall asleep on me." Farid barked at his RIO who responded with snoring noises. Farid laughed as he reached the runway and powered up the throttle. His plane began to rocket down the runway until he reached take off speed. He pulled back on the stick to gain altitude, and then he raised his landing gear. The base controller then spoke to Farid and Jalal's plane.

"We have multiple B-52 bombers approaching escorted by F-15s, intercept immediately, they are approaching us from the south on heading 180 at twenty thousand meters." The base controller told them

"Alright Farid let's kick some ass. Follow my lead." He engaged his afterburner and his planes wing swept back as far as they could go. Farid engaged his afterburners as well; Farid could hear the hydraulic motors pull his wings back to an eighty degree angle. Farid looked to his radar over two hundred kilometers away a half dozen B-52s and a dozen F-15s materialized on his radar.

"Wow you see that Jalal that is a lot of planes for us to go against." Farid told his wingman. He looked back to his RIO and said "Hey are you ready for this?"

"What the hell stupid question is that Farid? Who is ever ready for a real war?"

"Good enough" Farid said he looked to his radar and suddenly a cruise missile was launched from the lead B-52. Then all of the other bombers began to launch cruise missiles. "Ok Jalal I think we should forget the bombers and focus on the cruise missiles otherwise we are going to be in for a world of hurt."

"Yeah agreed we will have to let the bombers go for now." Jalal responded, Farid heard Kardavani protesting in the background of Jalal's transmission. One of the cruise missiles was in range for an AIM-54. He locked onto it and fired. Farid's F-14 buffeted and the Phoenix dropped from the plane and shot towards its intended victim. Jalal fired a missile as well it shot off his plane, the missiles rocket's flames were blindingly bright. Without skipping a beat Farid fired another missile this time at a different cruise missile. He switched targets and fired his third then fourth missiles at two different targets. After a few seconds Farid got a message that all of the missiles destroyed their intended targets. "I am out of Phoenix missiles but they all hit how did you do Jalal?"

"I did the same as you but there are a lot more missiles coming our way we better switch to Sparrows." Jalal said.

"Yeah I agree switching to Sparrow missiles." Farid switched the toggle to AIM-7s and locked onto another missile. "Hey Afshin did the bombers and fighters bug out?"

"Yeah it looks like it I will let you know if they turn around." Afshin informed him. Just then Farid got the fire order from his planes fire control center, he pulled the trigger and a missile shot away towards the enemy missile. Farid had a large circle appear in his HUD, he had to keep the target in the circle in order for the missile to hit. After a minute the missile hit and the cruise missile was destroyed. He repeated the same technique on another missile. "Ok Jalal I am out of Sparrows I am switching to short ranged missiles." Farid switched to his AIM-9s and closed in on the targets. He passed them then turned around and closed the distance on the target. He fired his missile and turned to another target, he didn't even have to check to see if his missile hit. He fired his remaining missile which also struck the target. Jalal appeared fifty meters to his right cannon blazing at a cruise missile which Farid could now identify as an AGM-86 ACLM. Farid switched to his cannon and tried to line up on the nearest cruise missile. Farid had trouble though do to the small size of the missile. He squeezed the trigger and a stream of shells fired and then abruptly stopped. "What the hell, damn my gun jammed. Leave it up to the ground crews to give me the shittiest M61 in the arsenal. Alright Jalal it's up to you how much ammo do you have left?"

"I have two hundred rounds left." Jalal responded.

"Alright make them count." Farid pulled up to gain altitude away from the missiles. Jalal fired his cannon two more times destroying one cruise missile.

"Shit I am out of ammo as well and there are still ten missiles left." Jalal said

"Damn it. Allah knows how much damage they can do. Afshin radio the base and let them know they have missiles on the way and to have damage control teams on the ready." Farid told his RIO who began to radio in the situation. Both Jalal and Farid followed the missiles from a safe distance in order to not be hit by friendly fire. Flak and SAMs engaged the missiles too little effect they slammed into the ASM sites and one plowed into the control tower of the base. "Damn it."


	4. Paving the Way

**Anyone a little creeped out that it seems like Arab spring actually is turning on the U.S. like with all of the protests and the attack on the U.S. embassy, well anyway this is the fourth chapter i hope you enjoy it :)**

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Paving the Way

_After the Battle of the Persian Gulf there was a brief lull in the fighting. The Allies needed some time to assemble their assault ships and landing craft for the landings, while the Caliphate tried to reorganize and prepare for the inevitable ground war. In the time between the Battle of the Persian Gulf and the April 5__th__ landings a series of small engagements and air battle took place in the Persian Gulf especially around Al-Basrah where the Allies tried to use drone strikes to soften up the defense around the beaches. Also, the Allies decided that Khark Island was too much of a threat to leave standing and Allied Command order it to be burnt to the ground. However to the north of the Caliphate by the Bosporus Straights the fighting began to intensify as the Allies attacked western Istanbul in force and launch an airstrike against a critical naval base in order to destroy the Northern Caliphate Fleet which was guarding the Mediterranean. However, the Allies weren't the only ones to launch offensive strikes shortly before the landing; the sky over Japan would be alight with the flames of battle and death. _

**March 23****rd**** the Pentagon 12:00**

William Mitchell entered the Conference room where Secretary Arnold Rooks and the Commandant of the Marine Corps were in. Moments later Admiral Halsey and General Ortega of the U.S. Army arrived in the room. Later they were followed by the leading military officers of all of the nations involved in the Alliance. They greeted one another and sat down. Arnold Rooks picked up a remote from the table and pressed a button; a hologram appeared at the middle of the table which displayed a map of the landing sites where the Allied Forces would hit the beach to begin offensive operations against the Caliphate.

"Ok people so in front of us are all of the landing sites for the invasion. I am going to go in depth for the Invasion plans today and discuss how we are going to prep the sites for our landings. First, Army Group Alpha; their first objective will be to take the western side of the Istanbul which we will use as a staging ground for the landing on the eastern side of the city. Two hours before Army Group Alpha lands at 0:500 Special Forces units from the German KSK will infiltrate these small islands here, which satellites confirm are being used for rocket artillery bases. The KSK will secure the launchers and turn them against the Caliphate forces in eastern Istanbul to further support the ground troops in the landing. At Zero Hour the amphibious vehicles and hovercrafts will load up troops and cross the straight under cover of air and artillery strikes. The German 1stMechanized Division along with the Greek 8th Infantry Division will attack the Caliphate head on while the 3rd Spanish Infantry division will flank to the right of the straight and the Italian 7th Mechanized Division will flank to the left in order to form a pincer move and encircle the city. However before the landing the Northern Caliphate Fleet will need to be neutralized in port so I want the Army Group Alpha's Air Force to attack and destroy them. Now if you will turn your attention to where Army Group Bravo will land, Poland's GROM will move in by sea to infiltrate these highlighted power plants and demolish them. After that they will continue to conduct sabotage missions against targets of opportunity especially against enemy transportation routes. Finally on the day of the landings they will secure these two airbases north of the landing sites. On D-Day the Polish army will land at the cities of Aden, Al Mukalla, and Sayhut. Meanwhile the U.S. Marines will land at the cities of Nishtun and Al Ghaydah and in the territory formally known as Oman they will land at Raysut and Salalah. The British Army will land at Sur and Duqm. The British SAS will be responsible for securing these airbases to the north of the target cities. Army Group Charlie will be directly to the east of Bravo. The Belgium and Australian Armies will attack the coastal cities of Kuwait and both countries Special Forces Groups will secure these airbases and airports in order to be used for our forces. The U.S. Army is landing in southern Iraq and once ashore will push up to secure Basrah. The Green Berets will secure the airport so it can be used as an airbase. Finally Army Group Delta will be landing in Khuzestan along the coast. The U.S. Army will be represented by the 1st Ranger Division, the 101st Airborne Division and the 20th Armored Division. The 101st will be spread out as it secures key airfields and strategic targets for the rest of the Army Group. The South African Army will support Army Group Bravo and the Dutch Army will support Army Group Alpha. Does anyone have any questions?" The room was silent; everyone just stared quietly at the hologram and the Secretary of Defense. "Ok good, god help us all people because we need all the help we can get for this to work. The name of the Invasion will be Operation Overlord 2."

**March 24****th**** Tehran, Ministry of Defense Headquarters 19:32 **

Shiraz Hosseini sat in his seat at the Supreme Military Council. He was with senior commanders of all of the branches armed forces. Shiraz was nervous for one of the first times he was not sure what would happen next. The Ayatollah Khatami stood at the head of the table, to Khatami's right was the Supreme leader of the Revolutionary Guard Jafari. Across from Jafari was Field Marshal Saleh Al-Muhaya the leader of the regular army, across from Shiraz Admiral Asif Sandila of the Navy. Finally at the end of the table was the leader of the Fedayeen Reza Naqdi. The Ayatollah looked furious. He stared at them with fire in his eyes. No one said anything for several minutes until Khatami finally spoke up.

"Well what do you have to say for yourselves? Every day I have been getting reports of ships and submarines that have been sunk by the Infidels and you all appear to be completely incapable of doing anything about it!" Khatami slammed his fist on the table which caused everyone to flinch with the noticeable exception of Jafari who looked as impassive as ever. Asif was the first to speak up.

"Well we were at a disadvantage from the beginning with the sheer number of ships they have compared to ours; it was no wonder that we lost that battle," the Admiral nervously said to his superior who began to shake his head in disapproval.

"WE HAD THE ADVANTAGE BECAUSE WE COULD CALL UPON OUR LAND BASED PLANES! DON'T GIVE ME THIS NUMBERS CRAP THAT YOU ARE SPEWING!" The Ayatollah shouted at the emasculated Admiral. Khatami then glared at Shiraz. "And you, we lost thirty four bombers in the last battle we cannot afford that kind of losses. What do you have to say for yourself?" Shiraz cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Well given the circumstances I believed it was necessary to risk them. However I did not expect to lose so many it appears that the Infidels are stronger then we had first believed. No matter though we can bleed them dry when they come ashore." Shiraz said as confidently as he could. The Ayatollah was the only person in the world that he was afraid of, not just because of Khatami's bad temper but for his unpredictability.

"Clearly you were mistaken now how can we rectify this situation?" at first no one said anything but then Asif spoke.

"Sir we will use our remaining carriers to attack Japan and destroy Allied bases there. If we succeed in destroying their bases it will buy us time to prepare for the ground war." The Admiral told the Ayatollah who grimaced then nodded.

"Alright you have my blessing, but I warn you if you screw this up your whole family will be swinging from a rope in Revolutionary Square." The Ayatollah warned the Admiral who was all too aware of Khatami's unusually violent side. "Now for the rest of us how will we prepare for the invasion?" Field Marshal Saleh stood up.

"Sir I believe that we should have the regulars and the Fedayeen stand by and defend the most probable landing sites while we keep the Revolutionary Guard in reserve to be deployed where they are most needed. The Air Force should be concentrated with maintaining air superiority and providing close air support." The Field Marshal told everyone, Shiraz looked to the Commander of the Revolutionary Guard who nodded approval, and then he looked to the commander of the Fedayeen who looked flustered.

"Saleh there is no way that the Fedayeen will be able to hold the beaches we are poorly trained and equipped we are suppose to be a reserve force not frontline fighters for Allah's sake. Sending us against the Infidels head on would be like throwing us head first into a wood chipper!" Reza bleated to his comrades who just blankly stared at him. Finally Jafari spoke after the seconds of silence.

"Reza, the Supreme Leader of the Caliphate Ayatollah Khatami will use the Fedayeen as he sees fit, if he wants to deploy your men to the frontline so they can fight so be it." Jafari spoke with the same amount of passion as one would have with reading a grocery list.

"This is unjust we will lose thousands of men, they will be torn to pieces!" Reza pleaded for them to be reasonable.

"I will need the Fedayeen to support my planes during the battle have them strafe the target beaches and landing crafts. Additionally I think it is time to call upon the reservists from the regular army and the Fedayeen." Shiraz asked Reza who looked like he was about to object but stopped himself before he spoke. Shiraz then turned to Jafari. "I will also need the Revolutionary Guards to deploy the Martyr Squad and its combat drones to wherever the fighting is happening can you do that?"

"Yes I can do that. However we lost a large number of our UCAVs during the battle against the Allied fleet. Consequentially the drones will be thin on the ground or sky rather." Jafari told Shiraz.

"Very good is the Web is it fully operational." Asked Khatami; the Web was a network of underground towers that acted like a series of subterranean GPS satellites. They worked by sending radio waves to the receiver which would then interpret the distance between the towers and the receiver to determine where the user was. The Fedayeen used it on their older planes to act as a primitive form of radar navigation.

"Yes it has been operational for the last month." Reza informed the Ayatollah

"Good that will come in handy when the land battles begin. Also the train tracks we have installed all throughout our country will help us to. It will allow us to transport heavy equipment much quicker than we could before." The Ayatollah reminded them. The Caliphate had spent nearly as much money on the train systems as it did on its weapon procurements. "Alright so let's discuss the order of battle. I want the 3rd Armored Division deployed to the…." A loud explosion cut Khatami off, the building shook violently. Then there was the sound of automatic weapons going off. First a few gunshots then a full scale firefight had begun. Shiraz went to the phone on the wall and picked it up; he pressed the button for the security room.

"What is going on down there, we heard an explosion?" Shiraz demanded to know. The guard took a few moments to speak.

"Sir, it is the Kurdish rebels they are attacking this building they are already in the lobby. I will send a helicopter to evacuate you and the generals." The guard told them. Khatami pressed a button and on the back of the room a TV screen turned on revealing security footage of the lobby. There were a dozen Kurds wielding AK-47s that were shooting wildly at whoever they saw. The front of the building was blown open by the explosion and there was half dozen dead soldiers sprawled on the ground. On the bottom edge of the camera a few Revolutionary Guards could be seen wielding a combination of TAR-21s and AN-94s shooting much more precise shots killing a few of the rebels.

"Come on we must go." Khatami ordered his Generals who followed him out the door and into the hallway. Several regular troops with G3A3 rifles ran past them not even bothering to salute them. "Jafari, Shiraz I want both of you to make it your mission to exterminate the Kurdish pests from this earth. Do so before the invasion, throw everything you have at them do you understand?" Khatami ordered them all they could do was nod as they approached the roof.

**March 25****th**** the skies over western Istanbul 22:14 **

Lieutenant Marinos Mitralexis was surprised at how clearly he could see everything tonight. He hardly needed his night vision goggles. The fire from the city lit the night sky so well that he could see individual people on the ground moving from cover to cover as Allied Forces engaged them. His squadron had been assigned to perform close air support for the ground troops as they closed in to take the city. He was with his flight leaderMajor Andreas Antoniou; his other two wingmen had split off to support other units further to the north. Greek F-16 covered them from enemy fighters which surprisingly were not attacking in force today. German Tornados had bombed the city with napalm and white phosphorus bombs, which then created the firestorm that allowed for the great visibility. Marinos' Mirage 2000 was equipped with AS-30L anti-tank missiles. He had four on board and he was more than ready to use them. And if to answer his prayers one of the ground units called on the radio.

"This is Anvil 1 we are under attack by enemy T-72s to the south by the destroyed sky scrapper. We are requesting immediate CAS!" the ground commander shouted, the sound of gunfire and explosions could easily be heard over the radio.

"Roger that Anvil 1 this is Dagger 1 we are moving to provide support." Andrea's plane turned sharply to the right; Which Marinos then performed the same maneuver. They lowered their altitude and increased their speed. They didn't bother turning on thermal imaging or night vision the bright hot flames would have easily obscured their view. They went to the distress beacon that appeared on their radar. A few Greek Leonidas 2 APCs along with infantry were pinned down by some rubble. It looked like platoon of T-72s had engaged them. One of the Caliphate tanks fired its main cannon striking one of the Greek APCs in the side. The tank shell ripped the APC open like it had been made of tissue paper, sending razor sharp shrapnel scything threw several Greek soldiers. "Shit Marinos you carry out the first attack run I will follow after you." Marinos' commander ordered him.

"Roger that sir let's kill these ass holes." Marinos turned his aircraft around so he was attacking the rear of the Caliphate tank formation. He picked his target a T-72 that was using the wreckage of a building for cover. He painted the target with his laser designator, then fired one of his four AS-30Ls. The missile rocketed off his plane and headed toward the target. Marinos decelerated so he could manually guide the missile in. The missile impacted the enemy tank which exploded into a brilliant ball of orange flames. Several soldiers that were using the tank for cover were also vaporized by the explosion. Marinos pulled up and turned his head to watch his flight leader fire his missile at an enemy tank with a similar amount of success. Marinos turned around and attacked one of the remaining tanks head on. He fired another AS-30L which struck the top turret of the tank caving it in like someone's skull if they had been hit by a sledge hammer. Andreas fired his as well on his second pass destroying the remaining tank.

"Thank you Dagger 1 we owe you our lives." The ground commander told them. The sound of gunfire had died down a bit and another officer in the background could be heard shouting at his men to advance further into the city.

"No problem Anvil one we will vector in some Apaches to cover you." Andreas informed the grateful ground commander.

"Thank you again, if we ever meet drinks are on me." Marinos watched the Greek troops begin to advance using the remaining APCs for cover. Marinos and Andreas still had two remaining missiles and they had enough fuel that they could loiter over the city for a while more. They listened to the radio chatter most of the ground troops were performing rather well. However despite that, this was still the fiercest battle of the war so far.

"This is Goliath 1 we are taking fire from enemy missile boats. We need someone to take them out." Another ground commander told the pilots above the battlefield.

"This is Dagger 1 we will take care of it we have four AS-30Ls between us… should be no trouble at all." Andreas told the other pilots. "Marinos form up on my wing."

"Roger that." They began flying to the water where the missile boats were supposed to be. They scanned the ocean surface and found two Osa class missile boats firing modified anti-ship missiles at Allied ground troops. "Alright so which one do you want me to take sir?" Marinos asked his commanding officer.

"Take the one on the right I will handle the one on the left." Andreas dove for the enemy ship he fired both of his missiles. They flew through the night sky both of them then impacting the Osa in the between the missile tubs. The resulting explosion split the ship in half as flaming debris and fuel shot across the water. Marinos dove at his target which now noticing the danger began firing its 30mm cannons at Marinos plane. Marinos and the Osa were locked in a deadly game of chicken as Marinos fired his missiles and struggled to stay on target while trying not to get shot out of the sky. The missiles flew towards the target impacting near the rear of the ship. The ship shuttered, but just as Marinos was celebrating several shells from the Osa's cannons struck Marinos plane which violently jolted under the hammer fall of the impacts.

"Shit I have been hit I got to RTB before my plane falls out of the sky." Marinos said he began to turn his plane back to his home base in Crete.

"Roger that let us return to base, hey Marinos excellent work today." Andreas said to his subordinate. Marinos managed a chuckle as he tried to keep his plane in the air.

"Thanks boss I am just glad we are finally going to war against the damn Turks it's been a long time coming hasn't it?" Marinos responded Andreas didn't say anything for a while. "You still there sir?" after a few seconds his commander responded.

"Yeah I am I was just thinking is all. I lost my older brother to the Turks nearly eighteen years ago you know." Andreas confessed to his wingman.

"What how?" Marinos was shocked by this revelation. He didn't even know Andreas had a older brother.

"He was in the Air Force like we are. But he flew an F-16 not a Mirage like us. He was over the Aegean Sea when he and his wingman were ordered to intercept a Turkish recon plane that was violating Greek airspace. When he arrived at the site were the recon plane was sighted he was intercepted by Turkish F-16s and a dogfight ensued. During the engagement his plane collided with one of the Turkish planes, and he was killed on impact." Andreas was a usually quite man so the fact that he was willing to tell Marinos this much information caught the young Lieutenant off guard.

"Wow, so you must really want to fight them don't you?" Marinos asked him

"Yeah I do I want to avenge my brother, restore honor to my family name." Marinos could not think of anything to say to his commander so they flew the rest of the way home in silence. Marinos began to notice that his aircraft was rapidly leaking fuel. He had only ten percent left but he was now only a few kilometers from Crete. He lowered his gear and decelerated. The runway lit up for him as he began to close on the runway. He could see emergency vehicles near the runway waiting for him. He began to descend; his rear wheels touched the runway, then his front wheel. Suddenly Marinos heard a sickening sound of screeching metal. Then his front wheel gave way and he began to skid across the ground Marinos shut his engine down to avoid a fire. His planes skidded another hundred meters before it came to a complete stop. Marinos took off his helmet and opened his canopy. He stepped out of his plane as the emergency vehicles approached. He looked behind him and saw Andreas on a landing approach towards the secondary runway. Marinos thought to himself he made it. His first real engagement and he had survived.

**March 26****th**** Liberty Air Base Greece 03:30**

Colonel Heinrich Jager sat in the briefing room with General Günter Ralph of the German Air Force. Günter was smoking a cigarette looking at a document on his desk. Finally he spoke.

"So two kills in one engagement that is very impressive Colonel Jager, not many people in the German Air Force could achieve such a feat." The General took a long drag of his tobacco and blew the grey colored smoke into the air. The stench of cigarettes was suffocating to Jager.

"Thank you sir." The Colonel told his superior, who then stuck his cigarette in an ashtray located on his desk and sat forward to look Heinrich in the eyes.

"I want to make a proposal to you Colonel. The Bundeswehr has come up with this crazy idea to create an aggressor squadron and they want you to lead it." Günter informed Heinrich who just cocked an eyebrow. An aggressor squadron usually means a unit that trains other pilots in mock combat situations. The last thing Heinrich wanted to do was to be sent back to Germany.

"So what, I would be sent home to train recruits or something?" Heinrich asked the General.

"No not at all, quite the opposite actually, we have picked three other pilots in the German Air Force that have scored exceptionally high in training and have scored some kills in combat to form an elite squadron. The theory back in Berlin is that these pilots would be far better as a group than they would be on their own. We want to make icons out of this squadron, to make them soldiers that every soldier in the Alliance looks up to, and we want you to be their leader Colonel Jager." Günter told Heinrich who was intrigued at this prospect.

"Why was I picked to be the leader of this new aggressor squadron?" Heinrich asked the General who began to light up another cigarette much to Heinrich's displeasure.

"Because no one ever told you but in training you had the highest overall scores of anyone in the history of the German Air Force, and on your first combat mission you shot down two Caliphate F-16s so fast they might as well have been flying crop dusters. So Jager it was determined that you are one of the best pilots in Germany, only you can lead this squadron. Well I need your decision now, will you accept the position?" The General asked Heinrich. Heinrich didn't need much time to think he stood up and immediately saluted the General.

"Sir it would be my honor to lead this unit into battle. When will I get to meet the rest of the squadron?" Günter saluted him and they both sat down.

"They arrived here five minutes ago. They should be in the main briefing room now, you are dismissed." Heinrich got up and headed out of the General's office he headed down the hallway to the briefing room. Several guards saluted him as he passed. He turned the corner and stepped into the briefing room. Four German officers in their flight suits sat there waiting for him. One of them, a tall, blonde man stood up and alerted the other pilots they all saluted him, to which he returned.

"Good morning gentlemen my name is Colonel Heinrich Jager formally of the 12th tactical fighter squadron, and I will be the commanding officer of this squadron. Now I haven't got to read your files yet so can you please introduce yourselves to me." First the tall blonde spoke.

"My name is Major Wilhelm Batz formally of the 32nd tactical fighter squadron. I have one kill to my name a Caliphate Mig-31 Foxhound." Heinrich shook his hand and went to the next pilot an auburn haired man who was about three centimeters shorter then Heinrich.

"My name is Captain Konrad Bauer formally of the 7th pursuit squadron. I have two kills to my name both of them where F-4 2020 Phantoms." They shook hands and Heinrich went to the last man a pale skinned black haired man with grey blue eyes.

"My name is Captain Kurt Ebener formally of the 7th pursuit squadron. I have one kill to my name an SU-35 Super Flanker." He was very soft spoken, it seemed like his voice was barley a whisper. They shook hands and Heinrich stepped away.

"Gentleman, I was given the news that I would be your commanding officer just a few minutes ago. I don't think this group has a name yet, and I believe that we should create one. We need a name that will inspire fear in the enemy and admiration from our allies, so since there are four of us how do you gentlemen like the name the Four Horsemen. That is the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that is. What do you gentlemen think?" They all nodded their agreement. "Ok so I was thinking why don't we pick one of the Horsemen to be our call sign, and before everyone jumps to take War, we pick the names out of a hat, is that alright?" Again they all agreed. Heinrich took a piece of paper that was on one of the tables and split it into four pieces. He wrote the names of the Four Horsemen on the pieces of paper. While he was doing this Konrad retrieved a hat from one of the soldiers standing outside the briefing room. Heinrich folded the papers more and stuck them in the hat. First Wilhelm grabbed a piece of paper, then Kurt, then Konrad; finally Heinrich grabbed the last piece of paper. First Wilhelm read his aloud.

"I got Famine." He told everyone who nodded their approval. Then Kurt read his results.

"Well it appears that I am War." Leaving only Pestilence and Death left, Konrad then read his Horsemen's name.

"I am Pestilence. So I guess that means that you are death then sir." Konrad told Heinrich. "Hey guys I have an idea I don't know about you but I am a good artist if you would like I can paint emblems of our Horsemen on our planes if you are alright with it sir?"

"If everyone wants that I see no problem with it. Everyone lets live up to our names and bring fear to the enemy, dismissed."

**March 29****th**** Queen Elizabeth Air Force Base Greece 04:45**

The briefing room was dark and foreboding as the men of the 633rd attack squadron assembled to listen to the briefing. Leon Bishop sat next to his WSO and friend Alistair Wallcroft. They were with the other men of Able Flight, Major Roy Grant and his WSO Don Barrett the Flight leader sat next to Alistair, and next to them where Scott Campbell, Jack London, George Cromwell and Lucas Burns. They were the pilots and WSO of the number three of four planes of the flight respectively. Their commanding officer stood at the front of the room and turned on a hologram appeared with a layout of Mohammed Naval Base; the 633rd's target and home of the Northern Caliphate Fleet.

"OK people so this is it we are going to hit the enemy fleet today. Now I know some of you are wondering why we are here and not with the rest of our boys getting ready to attack Sur; but don't worry we will head their once they have secured bases in the area. For now however the 633rd is assigned to attack the enemy fleet along with the Italians and Spaniards. This is the plan people we will ingress in via the north along with the 5th Italian interceptor squadron under the call sign Guardian will cover us from enemy fighters. From the southwest Spanish strike planes of the 3rd fighter squadron under the call sign Hammer will be armed with thousand kilogram high explosive bombs to take out the dry docks and the harbor facilities. Our planes will be armed with the new Super Sea Eagle anti-ship missile. Our planes will be carrying four of them apiece. Any fighters we encounter we are to let the Italians or Spanish handle. Our job is to fire our missiles sink the fleet and then bugger out. Is everyone clear on the plan?" the Colonel asked everyone nodded in agreement. "Alright people let's mount up and go to kick some serious arse out there." Everyone stood up and began to head out to their aircraft. They were in their flight suits damn heavy things that weren't the easiest to move in. Alistair slapped Leon on the shoulder.

"Hey you ready for this man?" He asked Leon who chuckled in response.

"I was born ready for this. Anyway you think you can handle the guidance on these new missiles we got today?" Leon asked his weapon systems officer.

"Yeah how hard can it be? We trained all of the time with them at the academy. I am just worried that we are going to run into enemy fighters. You just better keep us away from them; because I don't want to go home in a body bag due to your stupidity." Alistair joked with Leon, who smirked. They approached the hanger where their Tornado was parked; they began to climb up the ladder to enter the cockpit.

"Huh, oh me stupid, no I would never be stupid." They put on their helmets and snapped on their oxygen masks; Leon looked at one of the flight crew members by the plane they gave him the thumbs up. Leon turned the plane's twin engines on. They began to approach the runway a few other Tornados had taken off. "Tower this is Able 2 do I have permission to take off?" Leon asked the control tower.

"Roger that Able 2 you have permission to take off, happy hunting." The control tower responded. Leon looked back at Alistair who gave him the OK hand sign. Leon pushed forward on the throttle and the plane rocketed forward. Leon pulled back on his flight stick and his plane began to gain altitude. He rolled his wheels up into the plane.

"Alright let's meet up with the rest of able flight. Able 1 this is Able 2 what is your location?" Leon asked he wait for the reply as his aircraft approached five thousand meters in altitude.

"Able 2 I am at seven kilometers heading two waypoint alpha where I will enter a holding pattern for the rest of the flight to reach." Major Grant told Leon.

"Roger that I am heading to your location. Jack, Scott; are you two in the air yet?" Leon asked his wingmen.

"This is Able 3 I am in the air approaching waypoint Alpha now." Responded Lieutenant Scott Campbell, Leon looked back to see another Tornado approaching his five o' clock. Leon turned on his helmet display and a graphic appeared with Able 3 over the plane signifying that it was Scott who was approaching. Leon looked ahead to see Able 1 and all of Bravo flight circling around waypoint Alpha.

"This is Able 4 I am wheels up and heading your way now." Lieutenant Jack London responded. Charlie flight was taking off now. And to the west a dozen EF-2000s of the 5th interceptor squadron were approaching, they brought an AWACS with them.

"Bloody hell Leon look at all of the planes in the air it is like the whole damn squadron is in the air tonight." Alistair stated with awe in his voice.

"Yeah I know it's going to be one hell of a battle tonight." Leon said as the massive formation of planes began to form up and head to their final target.

**March 29****th**** over the Bosporus Straight 06:32 **

Leon and the rest of Able Flight were flying low across the water. They were twenty kilometers out from the target. They had split from Bravo and Charlie flight.

"Alright people we are going after the frigates and destroyers in the center of the dock. Bravo will attack the submarines and Charlie flight will attack the support ships. Alright let's go in their quick and fast. Guardian flight, contact the AWACS and ask if they see any enemy fighters in the air." Major Grant told everyone in the 633rd. Leon was sweating he was more nervous than he had ever been before. They were about to attack a heavily defended harbor. He wondered how many of them would come back from the attack in one piece.

"This is Guardian 1 we have enemy contacts on radar. Four Mig-29s on combat air patrol. We will engage the targets. Stay low we will deal with them." The Italian flight leader told Major Grant.

"Roger that Guardian 1 we will continue to target. Everyone hear that we are not alone up here stay frosty people we will get through this." Major Grant told the 633rd Leon wavered a bit on his flight stick, which must have alerted Alistair.

"Hey Leon are you alright are you having mechanical trouble?" he asked him

"No everything is fine just twitched a little is all, but I am alright." Leon responded

"Right well watch it at this altitude a twitch could mean instant death for us." Alistair scolded him,

"Yeah I know let's stay focused." Leon looked up to see four bright flames of a missiles exhaust streak across the sky. The sun was beginning to rise, reflecting off the water making the Tornados easily visible. "Damn we have one chance to make this right, we are three kilometers away from weapons lock on the enemy fleet." They closed on the enemy fleet Leon targeted a frigate that was docked. He closed within weapons range and received the order to fire from his plane's onboard weapon system. "This is Able 2 missile away, I repeat missile away." He pulled the trigger on his plane's flight stick and a Super Sea Eagle missile dropped from his plane and headed towards the enemy ship.

"Alright I am guiding it to the target keep the plane steady." Alistair told him. Leon turned the plane to the south about fifteen degrees and slowed his speed. A few seconds later a massive impact struck the enemy frigate. The bright white hot explosion lifted the ship from the water splitting it in half.

"This is Able 1 good kill. Locking onto an enemy frigate, missile away I repeat missile away." Leon saw Grant fire his missile. Leon began to turn back towards the target when on his radar he saw a terrifying sight.

"This is Guardian 1 we have multiple enemy contacts on radar heading towards us at Mach 2. They are enemy F-15s they will be within weapons range very soon, so brace yourselves." The Italian fighter pilot told them. On Leon's radar he saw at least ten enemy fighters approaching. Leon fought his desire to turn tail and run, he locked onto an enemy destroyer that had activated its weapon systems. Gatling cannons were blazing knocking down one inbound ASM.

"Able flight, target the enemy destroyer and fire on my count….1….2…3…. Fire!" Leon fired a Super Sea Eagle and four other missiles rocketed from his plane. "Fire another missile." Major Grant ordered. Leon fired another missile. The volume of missile fire was too great for the destroyer. Several struck the ship blowing it to pieces, burning fuel and fragments rained down across the docks and sea. "Ok people good kill now pick your last target and let us get out of here." Leon switched targets to a Frigate that was leaving the port at flank speed. He was about to fire when Alistair shouted in his ear.

"Shit look out!" Leon looked up to see the burning fragments of an EF-200 falling directly towards him. Leon dodged to the right narrowly missing the stricken plane. "Damn that was a close one." Alistair was breathing heavily. From the docks several SAM sites activated and began to fire missiles.

"Shit this is Able 3 I have a missile right on me I am breaking right!" Leon watched in horror as the missile struck the Tornado blowing it in half. The fallen plane's wreckage cart wheeled across the water there was no sign that Scott and his WSO escaped. Just then an alarm went off in Leon's helmet indicating a missile launch in his direction. Leon saw from the corner of his eye the frigate he was targeting fired a missile at him. Leon engaged afterburners and shot out chaff to confuse the radar guided missile. He turned into the missile which then lost its track on him. He lined the frigate up in his gun sight and fired a long burst of 27mm fire, shells struck across the bridge and fire control center. The front of the ship was gutted by the explosive shells. Leon looked back in time to see a Caliphate F-15 with an EF-2000 hot on his trail approaching. The F-15 passed only about five meters overhead catching Leon's plane in its jet wash. The strong gust of air nearly pushed Leon's Tornado out of control. The EF-2000 fired one of its missiles at the F-15 striking it on its right wing blowing it off, the plane barrel rolled out of control into the sea. Leon turned his plane around and sighted up the frigate he passed which was now dead in the water. He fired his last ASM and the missile struck the ship dead center blowing it to pieces.

**March 29****th**** the skies near Mohammed Naval Base 07:00**

Colonel Ghulam Faruque's flight of black painted J-20s flew through the morning skies like a pack of hungry sharks. Explosions lit the sky and sea as the naval base burned. A flight of F/A-18 Hornets flew at one thousand meters on a course for the base.

"Fawzy and Medhat engage the Hornets, Ahmed follow me let us engage their attack planes." Ghulam ordered his men.

"Roger that sir." Major Fawzy Salama responded. Fawzy and Lieutenant Medhat Zaki engaged their afterburners and speed towards the unsuspecting Hornets. They both fired PL-12 radar guided missiles. Ghulam locked onto an EF-2000 that was engaging a friendly F-15. He selected one of his PL-12 missiles and waited for a lock sign; he received it and fired the missile. The weapons bay opened and the missile fired and sped towards the target. Three seconds later the Chinese built missile met its mark, the EF-2000 blew apart in the sky. He then turned his eyes to a pair of F/A-18s diving on the bases fuel dump. A brief smile appeared on Ghulam's face. He turned to the enemy planes he picked the one of the right and fired another missile. The F/A-18 turned sharply and deployed countermeasures which were enough to make the missile lose track. Ghulam fired another missile then selected the PL-8 heat seeking missile he waited a few seconds then fired. The F/A-18 dodged the first missile but not expecting our prepared for the second type of missile was struck; the tail section and engines were ripped from the aircraft and it spiraled to the earth. Ahmed engaged the other plane destroying it with a PL-12 missile. A lone Tornado was flying low by the water. Ghulam engaged his afterburners and speed towards it. He closed the distance on the plane. The green and grey painted plane was unaware of Ghulam's aircraft. Ghulam selected his remaining PL-8 missile and fired. The missile rocketed of the target and headed toward the enemy plane. The enemy pilot turned hard to the right in order to avoid the missile, he then pulled up to gain altitude a fatal mistake. The missile struck the Tornado, knocking it into an uncontrollable death spin. Ghulam scanned for his next target. After a few seconds he found it a fleeing Tornado, Ghulam speed towards the defenseless strike plane. He closed the distance and switched to his twin barreled twenty three millimeter cannon. Ghulam fired his cannon in a short burst the shot went wide the green tracers flying several meters away from the attack plane. The Tornado turned hard to the left and hit his airbrakes forcing Ghulam to over shoot. Ghulam looked back to see the Tornado turn in his direction and a radar lock appeared on his screen. The Tornado fired a single ASRAAM missile at him. Ghulam popped flares and turned hard to the left. The missile went wide. Ghulam hit the afterburners and pulled back on the stick to raise his altitude. The Tornado which was more concerned with getting away then killing him continued to head away from the battle space. Ghulam flipped his aircraft around and locked on with a PL-12 he fired the missile which failed to track and missed the Tornado by a few meters as it smacked into the water. However Ghulam saw sparks fall from the enemy plane and the aircraft shuddered indicating that shrapnel from the missile had struck the plane. Ghulam looked on his radar the enemy planes were in disarray and retreating. He smiled to himself at a job well done.

** March 29****th**** near Queen Elizabeth Air Force Base 07:54**

The plane was falling apart. Leon Bishop was fighting a losing battle with his stricken plane. That black J-20 that tore through his comrades had damaged his plane with a near miss from a missile. The fragile underside of his plane was pelted with shrapnel. Leon was about two kilometers from his air base, and he was rapidly approaching the runway. Leon could see several emergency vehicles near the concrete landing strip, ready to put out any fires and rescues both Leon and Alistair. Leon looked back at the remains of his squadron, seven out of the original twelve aircraft remained in the sky. From the radio traffic Leon had overheard the Italians and Spanish suffered just as bad. Leon tried lowering his landing gear but they failed to go down.

"Tower we are going to make a belly landing. The landing gear has been destroyed clear the runway!" Leon informed the tower. His voice trembled as he spoke; in fact his whole body was shaking. Alistair slapped his shoulder, so Leon looked back at him.

"Hey Leon you can do this, we can make this landing." Leon and Alistair locked eyes for a split second. Leon nodded to his WSO and looked back at the runway; they were a few seconds away from landing. Leon hit the airbrakes as hard as he could as his plane impacted the ground. The screech of metal scrapping the ground was deafening. The plane skidded for a good one hundred meters before it finally came to a stop. Leon tried to open the canopy but it would not work. Several emergency crew members jumped on the plane and used a saw to cut apart the glass canopy letting the pilots escape. They ran a few dozen meters before they reached a safe distance. Leon looked back at his now burning Tornado. Leon became physically ill and vomited all over the grass. He never wanted to see another day like this again.

_The raid on Mohammed Naval Base was a strategic success for the Alliance yet it was a tactical victory for the Caliphate as well. During the eight minute raid the Caliphate Air Force shot down five RAF Tornadoes, seven Italian EF-2000 and six Spanish F/A-18. The wreckage of the downed planes and the bodies of killed Allied pilots were paraded through the streets. The Allies would not launch a major raid with fourth generation aircraft for nearly a week. Meanwhile in the heart of the Caliphate the Revolutionary Guard launched a crackdown on the Kurdish rebels. The Elite September 11__th__ Mechanized Division spearheaded the assault into "Kurdistan" which was located in northern Iraq. The assault on the major settlements always began with SCUD missile strikes and chemical attacks. Then the Air Force would bomb the city as the Revolutionary Guard attacked the city with tanks and artillery. Many of the civilian Kurds would flee the cities and villages only to be gunned down by attacked helicopters. Tens of thousands died in the ruthless assault. The rest of the world was stunned at the images of the war that were unfolding on their TV screens, however the Caliphates brutality was yet to reach its peak._

**March 30****th**** Zargos Mountain Range "Kurdistan" 03:34**

The sky was alight with AA fire from Kurdish weapons. Bright green tracers filled the air. They almost looked like lasers fired from some of those Star Wars spaceships Mohammed Ryyan the Sky Falcon was flying at around twenty thousand meters from the ground he was loaded with KH-29Ts. He looked around to see the other three planes in his flight. They were in a diamond formation spread about a hundred meters apart from one another. At the head of the formation was Major Alyasa Hussien, he was a veteran of the Liberation of Palestine, during the war he carried out dozens of attack runs on the Israeli forces. Two Mohammed's left was Captain Harun Abadi; Mohammed didn't know much about him other than he was once part of the Iraqi Air Force before the days of the Caliphate. To the right of the formation was Lieutenant Ahkmed Halabi, like Mohammed this was his first taste of combat. Their mission was to attack a series of villages and caves where hundreds of Kurdish rebels were making a last ditch effort to resist the Caliphate's advance.

"Alright people we are over the target area, let no stone stand atop another, kill everyone." Major Hussien ordered his flight he was answered by a chorus of 'yes sir'. The flight broke formation and began to hunt out individual targets. They were armed with four KH-29s apiece, each missile had over 300kgs of explosive power enough to flatten even the sturdiest of structures.

"Hey Hassan are you awake back there I need you to work the guidance on these missiles, I don't want them to just fly off into space you know." Mohammed said to his RIO who also happened to control the weapons guidance systems.

"Yeah, yeah I am awake don't worry just point the missile in the right direction and I will take care of the rest." Hassan retorted back with mock anger to his pilot and friend.

"Ah of course I will shoot in the right direction, they don't call me the Sky Falcon for nothing." Mohammed responded, which resulted in a laugh from his RIO.

"Yeah well just try not to make yourself into the 'Sky Pigeon' by missing." Hassan joked back with him.

"Hey I resent that, anyway do you have a target for me to attack?" Mohammed responded. After a few seconds Hassan replied.

"Yeah there is a two story building with a ZPU on it, I am marking it on you HUD, go ahead and take it out." Hassan ordered him. Mohammed saw the blip appear on his helmet and he dove for the target. The ZPU must have noticed him for it turned and fired a stream of bright green tracers at his plane, narrowly missing him. Mohammed fired one of his missiles and it rocketed off his wing and headed for the target. Mohammed turned hard to the right but kept his eye on the missile to see the damage he was about to cause. Two seconds later the missile impacted the target building. The structure exploded into a bright orange fireball spewing debris in every direction.

"Hell yes that is one building destroyed. Hassan where is my next target?" Mohammed elated to his RIO.

"Yeah, ok so the next target is covered with camouflage netting. It is a mortar pit, so switch to your thermal sight and acquire the target."

"Roger that switching now." Mohammed turned on his thermal sights and scanned for the mortar pit. Unfortunately with as many flames as there were in the mountain area, Mohammed couldn't tell anything apart. "Hassan, can you please be more specific as to where the mortar pit is I am having trouble locating the site in question." Mohammed asked his RIO who took a few seconds to respond.

"Ok do you see the mountain by the burning huts to your left?" Mohammed scanned for a few seconds before he saw the huts in question.

"Yes I see them now."

"Now look up at the hill to their left and at the top of the hill is the mortar pit." Mohammed looked up the hill and saw the mortar pit. A puff of smoke appeared from an opening indicating that they had fired a shell at the Caliphate forces. Mohammed turned his plane and fired a missile in the mortar team's position. The missile went as straight as an arrow guided by Allah himself towards the target. The missile detonated above the target showering the Kurds with shrapnel. "Nice shot ok now there is a cave to the north that the Immortals have marked on our TAC map the Kurds are using it to store weapons go take it out."

"Roger that proceeding to the target now." The Immortals were the regular army's elite special operation unit. They had carried out covert missions from Israel to New York. And they had a reputation as being ruthless killers. Mohammed pushed forward on the throttle to gain more speed and pulled up to regain some altitude. He scanned the skies for the other members of his flight. He saw two of them he wasn't sure who attacking a village with their missiles while the remainder squad member was carrying out a strafing run on some Kurdish rebels in the open. Mohammed looked for the cave eventually seeing it. The large cave was at least five meters tall and twice that many wide. It looked like you easily could fit a tank in there but still have some room to maneuver. The cave was surrounded by Kurdish fighters and two ZPU AA guns that were firing blindly into the sky to protect the valuable ammo dump. Mohammed lined up the target and fired his missile. Hassan guided the powerful weapon straight into the cave. The missile disappeared for a few moments but seconds later a powerful rush of flames emerged from the cave incinerating everyone outside of the natural fortification.

"Attention Lieutenant Ryyan, there is a column of Kurds escaping to the west kill them all." Major Hussien ordered the young lieutenant.

"Yes sir proceeding to target now." It didn't take long before they were over the target. Mohammed flew close enough to the ground that he could make out individual people on the ground below him. Mohammed looked closer at the people and he noticed something, none of the Kurds had weapons. Actually there were not even any men in the fleeing group; they were all women and children who were just trying to escape the onslaught before them. "Sir I think we may have a problem they are civilians not rebels they are of no threat to our forces, request permission to disengage?" Mohammed asked his superior.

"Request denied kill them all leave none alive. That is an _order _Lieutenant kill them all now." The Major barked back.

"Hey Mohammed we aren't really going to do this are we?" Hassan asked his pilot who seriously thought hard about the subject.

"We have no choice it is us or them." Mohammed responded. He ignored his RIO's protest and switched the guidance off for his remain KH-29 he lined up the target and fired his missile. The rocket crashed in the middle of the group of fleeing people. The explosion ripped through the crowd killing and maiming dozens of people. Mohammed felt sick to his stomach. What they were doing was overkill but he had no choice it was them or him; and the last thing he wanted was to be branded a traitor.

**March 30****th**** Fedayeen Air Base Number 23 13:23**

"You are the brave pilots of Allah's Caliphate!" Mullah Zakaria yelled to men of the 15th Fedayeen Air Squadron. Zakaria inspired both fear and admiration from everyone in the unit, that is everyone but Arash who thought he was just a bombastic buffoon who couldn't tell you the difference between an ass and an elbow. Zakaria was assigned to be the moral and spiritual leader of the unit. He was an imposing leader at first glance. But Arash knew that he was actually a cowardly dog who hid behind his men while he flew in an observation plane ordering the men to do the impossible. One time during training the men had to fly through a SAM site to attack a formation of tanks. Arash and the others protested saying that it would get them killed but Mush Head Zakaria told them to have faith in Allah and fly straight and level. It was a good thing that was a simulation otherwise Arash or anyone in that flight group for that matter wouldn't be here today. "You have to power to destroy the foul disease of Kurdistan from this earth. Then you have the power to crush the infidels on the beaches and take the fight to the heart of the Crusader kingdom." Everyone in the group shouted approval. Arash looked to his friend Flight Officer Atash Javad who looked as entranced by the speech as everyone else. Arash shook his head and chuckled at how gullible everyone was. Just then a flight of crop dusters landed at the airfield. "See that warriors they are the bringers of death to the enemy. They carry our sacred chemical weapons to the Kurds and to the Americans who will surely land on the beaches in the next few days. Again everyone cheered, Arash knew that the chemical weapons were the Caliphates best chance to stop the Allies on the beaches but if it were to be successful the regular Air Force would have to keep the Allied planes off their backs as they delivered their lethal payload to the enemy. "Now let us get into our planes we must practice for stopping the Allies on the beaches." Everyone cheered Allah Akbar and headed for their planes.

"Hey that was some speech wasn't it Arash." Arash looked over his shoulder and saw Atash walking up behind him.

"Oh it was something alright." Arash responded, they headed to their aircraft. They both flew the J-6 which was the Chinese copy of the Mig-19 Farmer. The plane had been outdated for decades yet the Caliphate used them for the Fedayeen. The cannons were rather destructive to light armored targets and personnel caught in the open. However other members of the Air Group flew the J-5 which was an even older plane that was basically a knockoff of a Mig-17, again an equally outmoded plane. The Fedayeen never flew in groups made up entirely of the same class of plane. Some would have mixes of trainers and old planes others would be made up of modified civilian planes to perform combat roles.

"What you didn't like it then?" Atash asked him as he began to climb the ladder to get into his plane.

"No it is not that it's just well I am nervous for when we go to war is all, you know we might die." Arash told his friend who just looked quizzically back at him.

"But if we die we go straight to paradise as a martyr, why would you be afraid of death?" Atash replied, apparently puzzled at Arash's survival instinct.

"Maybe but if it is all the same I would prefer to not be martyred in my early thirties maybe when I am fifty or something but not now."

"I guess that is fair enough anyway I am going to go to my plane now see you in the air." Atash ran off towards his plane which was just down the runway. Arash sat down in his cockpit and put on his helmet. Several J-6s taxied to the runway and began to take off. The Mullah Zakaraia got into his observation plane. Arash snorted and rolled his eyes as he began to taxi to get into a takeoff position.

**March 31****st**** USS Ronald Reagan 13:11**

The Chow hall on the aircraft carrier was busy with sailors and airmen who were busy trying to get their daily meal. The television in the cafeteria was playing the news, showing footage smuggled out of the Caliphate where Kurds were being slaughtered. Paul shook his head and sighed. Jack Sawyer sat down with him.

"Hey Killer, what is going on?" Sawyer asked him, Beast flight had started calling him Killer since he was the only person who had scored a kill since the war had begun. Paul just played with his food a little; he didn't really care about that nickname.

"Nothing I'm just watching the news, what do u think about it. You know the Caliphate killing all of those peoples?" Paul asked his wingman who shrugged causally.

"Well you know the sand monkeys are a bunch of savages so I am not really surprised to be honest really. Like we should kind of expect this kind of behavior from the Caliphate they are savages who murder civilians for sport." Tom told Paul, who just went back to his food. "Hey Paul you know you are the first pilot in history to get a kill flying the Super Hornet you know?" Paul looked at Tom who just looked back at him. Paul smirked as he ran his fingers threw his short cropped black raven colored hair; he realized he would have to cut his hair soon.

"Yeah I know probably the first kill using an AIM-9X as well. But you know to be honest you know what bothers me; it's how I'm not bothered by the fact that I have killed people. Yeah I know I've dropped bombs and shit on insurgents but that was the first time you know that I know I killed someone. Like I saw that his plane went into the water and no one got out." He confessed his apathy to his wingman who took it rather casually.

"He was trying to kill you so it was no wonder that you don't feel guilty. Please man we are soldiers not murders." Jack told Paul, who just shrugged in response. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"You know it was kind of fun though, shooting him down I mean." Paul told Jack. Who laughed and slapped him on the back.

"See there you go man that is the way to think about it. Just think you are like playing a video game or something if it starts to bother you." Jack told Paul who was less convinced. Paul finished his meal and then stood up.

"Alright man I am going to go to the hanger you know I am going to make a score card on my plane you know like maybe a crossed sword on it to indicate the kill."

"Sounds good man a score card should be pretty cool Killer." Jack told him. Paul left the Chow Hall and walked down the corridors of the Reagan. He went down the letter to the hanger and walked towards his plane. A mechanic saw him and walked up to him.

"Sir is there anything I can do for you?" the mechanic asked him

"Yeah actually I want to put a marking on my plane to indicate a kill is there anything that you can do to help me out?" Paul asked the mechanic.

"Oh yeah hold on a second." He walked over to a crate and pulled out some spray paint, he then walked over to another and pulled out a sheet of plastic. "It was a Mig-29 right well this looks like one that you can you spray onto your plane." The Mechanic gave him the spray paint and the score card.

"Thanks I think I will use these." The mechanic walked off and Paul grabbed a small latter. He went up and held the score card just below the cockpit and where his name was written. He began to spray the black paint on his plane. He blew on the paint a little in order to dry it. He pulled the score card away and admired his artwork. He wondered how many more scorecard markings he would add by the end of the war.

**April 1****st**** Okinawa 09:32**

Brian O' Harris looked out of the barracks window. Four B-1Bs were taxiing to take off. Brian wasn't privy to all of the mission details but he had heard rumors that the Air Force was just going to bomb Khark Island to smithereens rather than to try and capture it. Brian had not been out on patrol or on a combat mission since he attacked the oil facilities a few weeks ago. He was growing bored and restless. It wasn't that Brian was particularly eager to kill people (in fact the melancholy because of his first kill still bugged him); he just wanted to see some action to break up the monotony of life on base. He was constantly filling out paper work and going from his barracks to his hanger to check on the maintenance of his aircraft. Brian was tempted to just go for a run to break up the boredom when Charlie Yeager walked into the barracks.

"Hey what is up man." He asked as he approached Brian. Charlie was a tall man around six foot six, he was rather wirily looking. His hair was so blonde it almost looked white and his eyes were a light shade of blue. In contrast Brian had auburn hair, dark green eyes, was six feet tall and toned. Charlie sat down across the table from him.

"Nothing much I am just staring out the window you know. How have you been?" Brian asked his wingman.

"Ah I have been ok, but I guess I am just kind of bored, we haven't been on a sortie or anything since you know, we bombed that one place. I don't know about you but I am getting kind of restless." Charlie responded, Brian felt the same way. Especially since his friends were always gone. Marcus was always busy doing things with his squadron, and somehow Miroslaw had ended up being transferred to the Philippines, presumably to serve along with the rest of the Polish forces.

"Yeah I know what you mean. But on the bright side we will be supporting the landing soon so we should see some action there." Brian responded he knew the landings were going to happen soon but he didn't know which day they would occur. Just then the flight leader Colonel Augustus Blackbird and his second in command Captain Jerome Steele. Both were veterans of the War on Terror and in the case of Colonel Blackbird you could easily tell. He flew an F-16 during the war in Afghanistan, and during the Christmas offensive he was shot down by a Taliban SAM. Now his face was a patchwork of scars from a botched ejection. Two of Augustus' fingers were missing from the time he was shot down and he was pissed about it. Jerome was a muscular African-American with a short temper. He fought in the Iraq war using an F-15.

"There you are I wanted to tell you both that we are going to be on alert today so get your shit together and suit up." Colonel Blackbird told them.

"Sir Yes sir!" they said in unison. They got up and started to head for the locker room to change into their flight suits.

"Hey do you think we are going to get into the air today?" Charlie asked his wingman.

"I don't know their defiantly is a strong possibility. But if we do it will probably just be CAP it isn't like the enemy would fly out this far to bomb Okinawa." Brian responded, they went and got changed and began to head to the hangers. They were about a hundred feet away when Colonel Blackbird stopped them.

"Gentlemen I just got word that the Caliphate has sent its remaining two aircraft carriers and surface ships to attack Japan. We believe their target is Tokyo so we are going to fly there to assist the JASDF in protecting the city. The other flights in our squadron are tied up flying back from CAP missions but when they refuel they will fly at top speed to assist us. Alright let's kick the tires and light the fires gentlemen. Brian ran to his plane, _finally some action _Brian thought to himself as he strapped into his plane's seat.

**April 1****st**** 10:00am near Tokyo**

The flight line was crowded with the planes of the 521st fighter squadron. Tanaka Katsumi sat in her F-15J as it was lined up waiting to take off. If they didn't get off the ground soon they would be sitting ducks for the Caliphate naval planes that were heading their way now. From what Katsumi had heard the JMSDF's carrier battle group had engaged the bulk of the Caliphate's remaining surface fleet. However the Caliphates Carriers had actually launched their planes and completely avoided attacking the Japanese fleet. Katsumi had to admit she admired the Arab pilot's courage because they surely knew it was a one way mission. But what Katsumi didn't understand is why the Caliphate was dead set on attacking Japan, sure the Allies used some of the JSDF's bases but that was it. However this wasn't the time to think about politics, she needed to focus on surviving her first real taste of combat. Lieutenant Masani Keiko was in front of her, and in front of her were Lieutenant Ogata Rin and Captain Sakamoto Mio. The other eight pilots of the 521st she didn't know as well but like Katsumi's flight they were all women. Everyone was here and ready to take off and waiting for clearance from the flight controller. Overhead a dozen F-2s flew by; they were all armed with air-to-air missiles.

"This is base command you have permission to take off happy hunting." The Base's tower said to them.

"Roger that this is Katana 1 taking off now." Captain Sakamoto said to the base controller. Each of the 521st's flights was named after an ancient Samurai weapon. Katsumi's flight was Katana; the other two were Yumi as in the Japanese bow and Naginata which was like a staff with a blade at the end of it. They began to taxi to the runway when the first sounds of panic from the radio were overheard.

"THIS IS BUSHIDO 3 I AM HIT I REPEAT I AM HIT AND GOING DOWN!" Bushido was the name of the F-2 flight from what Katsumi could gather.

"This is Bushido 9 someone clear my six I got two Mig-29s on me and I can't shake th…." The pilot was abruptly cut off, indicating that he had been shot down.

"Shit Tanaka it sounds like they are dropping like flies out there." Keiko said to Katsumi, who began to take deep breaths to try to calm down. Katsumi was scared she had never been more scared in her life. Between every breath she shivered with fear. She was about to engage pilots who had just gotten back from fighting the Americans, Katsumi knew that they were a lot better than her, because unlike Katsumi they had real life combat experience. "Hey Katsumi we can do this we will survive this fight. Come on girl respond damn it." Keiko said to her.

"Yeah I am fine I can do this I can do this." Katsumi's hands were sweaty, and if it wasn't for the gloves of her flight suit she wouldn't be able to hold on to the controls of her plane. She arrived at the main runway. She waited as Sakamoto and Ogata took off. Then Keiko took off, Katsumi was the last one left on the ground. She pushed forward on the throttle and her F-15's powerful engines shot her down the runway. She lifted off the ground and began to rapidly gain altitude. She checked her weapons she had four AAM-3s IR guided short range missiles and four AAM-4s which were radar guided medium range missiles much like the American AIM-120. In addition to her missiles she also had a full load of ammo for the 20mm cannon. Now that Katsumi had got into the air, the trembling in her arms had stopped as she began to focus less on the fear and more on flying her plane.

"This is Sky Eye forty plus bandits inbound from the northeast on vectors 087. It appears they are heading straight for Tokyo, you are clear to intercept." The E-767 AEW plane ordered them.

"Roger that we will engage." Captain Sakamoto said. The squadron turned to that heading and began to proceed to intercept.

"Shit I wonder how many planes Bushido flight took out if any it sounds like they got massacred out there." Stated Ogata, Katsumi scanned her radar for friendly units but couldn't see any; all she saw was a mass of enemy aircraft heading in her direction. They began to pass over Tokyo bay they say that two Kongo class destroyers were guarding the bay. Needless to say there were also JGSDF SAM sites and AAA in the city. Ever since that horrible day when the war had began the JSDF had been on full alert.

"Hell if I know it looks like the whole damn Caliphate Air Force is coming straight for us." Keiko replied.

"I don't think we can do this alone are we going to have any back up?" ask Katsumi.

"This is Katana 1 to Sky Eye she has a point are we going to get any back up from anyone else?" Sakamoto asked the AEW plane

"Yes the USAF scrambled a flight of F-22s from Okinawa and other JASDF units are taking off now but you are on your own until they arrive." Sky Eye responded to them. _Shit we are going to get slaughtered by them before the Americans get here. _Katsumi thought to herself.

"Alright people we are thirty seconds from intercept pick your targets." Sakamoto ordered the flight. Katsumi picked a target, a Mig-29K by the radar signature. She waited for the enemy plane to get into range. "Alright fire your missile on three everyone. 1…2…3… Fire!" As one the entire squadron fired one of their AAM-4 missiles. Twelve missiles streaked off the American built planes and headed straight for their targets. On Katsumi's radar she witnessed the lead elements of the enemy formation scatter as they detected the missiles. After several excruciating seconds radar signature began to disappear from the screen. A message appeared on her screen saying target destroyed. Everyone in the squadron began shouting that they got a kill. Katsumi let out a shout of exultation at her first kill. "Stay focused people we have more coming are way looks like they are diving low. Close the distance and engage them in a dogfight.

"Yes ma'am! Masani cover me." shouted Katsumi as she rolled her plane then dived for the deck to engage the targets. She looked over her shoulder to see Keiko hot on her tail. Both of the F-15s broke the sound barrier as they dived with full afterburners. They began to close within visual range of the target, she saw them now they were HAL Teja's Indian built plane's that the Caliphate had stolen when they invaded and pillage the defenseless nation. They looked like they were loaded down with bombs so they should be easy pickings. Suddenly two of the Teja's broke formations and turned straight towards Katsumi and Keiko. The RWR in Katsumi's plane went off and then a missile alert blared in her helmet as the lead Teja fired an R-73 at her. "Shit I am Spiked!" Katsumi turned hard as the incoming heat seeking missile headed straight for her. The missile turned and began to follow her plane. Katsumi popped flares and shaft to confuse the missile as she pulled a hard g turn to the right. The missile ignored the flares and kept coming. Katsumi pulled up hard to avoid the missile. She had her afterburners on to gain as much speed as possible. The missile kept coming, she flipped her plane on its back and did a loop to confuse the missile but it kept coming. She dived for the deck and finally the missile alert ended as the R-73 ran out of fuel. Katsumi sighed in relieve, when suddenly her RWR went off again. Katsumi looked back to see the Teja was diving into position to fire again at her. Katsumi was about to pull an evasive maneuver when a missile struck the Teja's left wing sheering it off.

"I got you Katsumi." Keiko said as she pulled alongside Katsumi's plane.

"Thanks Keiko san." They both made eye contact and nodded. They turned back towards Tokyo bay to engage the rest of the enemy. Katsumi could smoke from missile contrails appear the Kongo class ships were targeting the incoming planes. Several explosions in the sky could be seen, and Katsumi prayed that none of them were Japanese planes that were being shot down.

"This is Sky Eye that enemy is bombing the city stop them immediately." The E-767 ordered them, as if that wasn't obvious enough to them. They began to close on the enemy. Boxes appeared around friendly aircraft on Katsumi's HUD identifying who was who. Katsumi saw Ogata shoot down an enemy Teja while Sakamoto was engaged in a turning fight with a Mig-29K. Katsumi and Keiko were flying at over 1800kmph as they slammed threw the scattered enemy formation. Katsumi picked a Teja and began to pursue it. She acquired a lock on the plane with an AAM-3 and fired her missile. The Teja turned hard and fired off a shower of flares to confuse the missile. The AAM-3 missed, Katsumi cursed her luck and fired again. The missile rocketed off the rail and chased the target. The Teja flipped on its back and began to dive. The missile followed the enemy plane. Katsumi followed the enemy as well watching the missile chase its target. To Katsumi's horror the Teja flew between two buildings causing the missile to strike one of the building. Katsumi gritted her teeth determined to shoot the dastardly enemy pilot down, but then Sky Eye spoke over the radio. "Attention all friendly pilots APRS has picked up two enemy aircraft on a path to attack the Emperor's Palace engage the target at once." Katsumi looked across the city; several buildings were burning from bombs and crashed planes. Katsumi's heart filled with anger at the Caliphate. Tokyo had no military value why were they attacking it.

"Shit Tanaka, engage the targets we are tied up here with these guys." Tanaka gritted her teeth and broke off her engagement with the enemy plane. She looked for Keiko but she was engaged with another enemy plane. The targets were marked on her HUD they appeared as two red triangles. She flew towards them they were a few kilometers from the target. She locked onto one of the enemy planes and fired her missile. The AAM-3 flew true to the target hitting the aircraft dead center blowing its tail off. The Teja spiraled to the ground, the other enemy Teja turned to the left leaving a perfect opening for Katsumi to fire her remaining missile. Katsumi fired the AAM-3 which headed towards the Caliphate plane. The Teja turned hard and popped flares causing the missile to veer off in the wrong direction. Katsumi switched to guns and closed on the target. She lined up her gun sight on the left wing of the enemy plane. She squeezed the fire button which sent out a stream of yellow tracers ripping through the enemy plane racking in from side to side, shredding both man and machine. Katsumi watched the enemy plane go down with grim satisfaction. Suddenly the RWR in her plane went off as a Mig-29K dove towards her cannon blazing. Katsumi turned hard to the right as to avoid being shot down.

"There is one on my six o clock someone get him off me!" Tanaka shouted to anyway who would listen. She jinxed her plane from left to ride avoiding a burst of gunfire each time. She pulled up to gain altitude the Mig-29K followed her. She rolled her plane to the right and down again to shake the enemy plane but to no avail. The g-forces from all of the violent maneuvers were taking their toll she could keep it up for much longer. The familiar sensation of fear and dread began to fill her. She began to dive the plane to avoid the enemy. She didn't know how much more she could take when suddenly her salvation came. As if by an act of God a missile struck the Mig-29K obliterating the craft, a grey painted F-22 Raptor flew into view. The Raptor flew right beside Katsumi. She could see the pilot a young looking Caucasian man. He made eye contact with her and saluted her. She looked at the writing under the cockpit it was in English but she knew enough to know what it said; _2__nd __Lieutenant Brian O' Harris_; she saluted him back as he turned away. It seemed like half a dozen missiles from out of nowhere struck the remaining Caliphate planes from the skies. The American and Japanese planes counterattacked destroying the handful of remaining planes. Katsumi let out a sigh of relief she had survived her first battle, but the question now is would she survive the next.

**April 1****st**** near Tokyo 10:45**

Brian O' Harris circled the airbase were the JASDF squadron had just landed, as he waited permission for his flight to land. He didn't know who these guys were but they were really good they fought off dozens of planes and it looked like not a single one had been shot down. He thought of the person he had saved a few minutes ago. He was not sure if that was a man or a woman that he had saved but he was sure he'd find out.

"Alright people we have permission to land remember be on your best behavior when we get there. You are representing the USAF down there so don't do anything stupid." Colonel Blackbird told his flight. They began their decent first Blackbird, then Stone, then Yeager and finally Brian landed. He began to taxi to a hanger, he looked to see the base personnel waving and cheering. He parked his plane in a spot for ground crews to tow it into a hanger. He raised the canopy and took off his helmet. Some ground crew members pulled a ladder to his plane and he stood up as he took off his helmet. Suddenly someone in a flight suit approached him. He got a better look and he realized that it was a woman pilot approaching him. This wouldn't have surprised him if this was a USAF base but not Japanese base. Brian didn't even know that the JSDF allowed women to serve. She bowed to him and said something in Japanese; you didn't have to know Japanese to understand what she said _hello, thank you. _Brian bowed back at her.

"Hi there, um I am sorry but I don't speak Japanese, do you speak English?" Brian asked her as she smiled at him. Brian noticed that despite all of the sweat she was actually a very attractive woman. She had dark brown hair and a very pretty face. Her figure was slender and petite. She looked more like a model than a fighter pilot.

"Yes I speak English, I wanted to thank you for saving my life." She responded. Brian tried not to get lost in her beauty. "My name is Tanaka Katsumi what is yours?" she asked him

"My name is Brian O' Harris, it is nice to meet you." He smiled back at her. Suddenly several other pilots from the JSDF appeared. They were all women, and they all looked like supermodels. _What the hell did I step into the twilight zone or something?_ He bowed again to the new arrivals "Hello it is a pleasure to meet you." They all greeted him. A tall women with jet black hair and piercing brown eyes was named Sakamoto Mio, a slim girl with coffee colored hair was named Ogata Rin (after talking to her for a few minutes Brian found out that she actually used to be a ballet dancer at one point) and the final women who looked like the average traditional Japanese women who didn't say much was named Masani Keiko. Apparently they were the 521st Fighter Squadron, they were an all female unit. Brian noticed that Colonel Blackbird and A Japanese senior officer were approaching. The Japanese officer said something, and then Augustus spoke.

"Hey Brian get your ass over here we are going to do a debriefing." Brian and the women of the 521st headed towards the debriefing room

_The attack on Tokyo was perhaps the biggest mistake the Caliphate had made thus far. Not only had they failed to destroy their intended targets they also squandered their remaining surface fleet and brought a powerful new enemy to side with the alliance. The JMSDF aircraft carrier Akagi launched its F-35s which struck the enemy fleet sinking several ships and crippling the rest. A JMSDF submarine sunk the crippled carriers sending the Caliphate's Navy to the bottom of the sea. However the war for the Caliphate was not lost, yet anyway. The deciding moment of the war was yet to come as the Allies prepared to attack the Caliphate as they prepared to launch operation Overlord 2. _

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**Ok so school is keeping me more busy then i thought i would be but i am going to try to post atleast two more chapters before the end of the year and of course i do intend to finish this story and not just stop writing at a certain point. anyway please read and review as your feedback will encourage me to continue writing XD**


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